


of Videotapes and Recordings

by Kikwiboo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, BAMF Keith (Voltron), Keith just wants to be loved, Lance is just confused, Langst, Loner Keith, Multi, Photographer Keith (Voltron), Shy Lance (Voltron), Writer Lance (Voltron), doctor lotor, don't worry Hunk will be important later in the story, klance, nerd lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2019-09-28 20:26:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17189828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kikwiboo/pseuds/Kikwiboo
Summary: The TV flashes to life and I put in the video. Though, what I saw was not expected, sure Pidge said it would 'help' me with my project but I didn't actually take her seriously. I let out a soft gasp when I see who's face pops up onto the screen.It was a video of Keith.18yr Lance just wants to pass senior grade and finish his report on Keith Kogane, a missing person who he shared classes with. But after receiving mysterious packages that hold videos of Keith, Lance must use the help of his friends and his own wit to find out what happened to the mysterious loner in his class.But when Lance finds him, he gets shoved into a world of Gods, magic and... rainbow lions?





	1. 444/

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so as future notice, the videos themselves are separate chapters and they are very short. I’m really sorry about that, but it is just Keith going on about something that will be important for the structure of the story. Again I’m really sorry.

Keith Kogane, age 18 has gone missing from his state home in California. He was last seen walking from his school, Westfield High, at 2:29 pm. From what I had heard, Keith had been acting stranger and isolated himself from those around him. 

Police have confirmed his disappearance as suspicious and will continue the search until they find him. Though there is still no leads to his whereabouts...

I close my laptop shut and breath a long sigh. How am I supposed to write a report on a missing person who has no connections to anyone in the school? He had no friends and was known as the stereotypical outsider. 

There were things that I knew about him, that he was in the same chemistry and history class as me. Other than that, I didn't know a thing about him. 

"Lance, are you getting this?" I turn my head to see Allura, My best friend. She was waving her hand in my face.

"Getting what?" I asked, she rolled her eyes and looked down at her phone.

"This," she shoves her phone in my face to show a text from Shiro, one of the 'hottest' guys in school. "Shiro asked me if I wanted to go to the next football game with him, isn't that exciting?!" 

She yelled a little bit too loud in the school library, causing the librarian to shush us. I put my hand on her phone, pushing it out of my face. "Yes, very cool but can you just concentrate on what we are doing. I have to submit this in by the end of the semester." 

Allura rolled her eyes and pouted her lips "this is such an important milestone in my life, I'm going out with Shiro!"

"Yeah I'm sure you can wait just another few hours until school finishes, then you can fangirl all you like." I turned back and open my laptop once again watching the blank screen of my computer, the cursor flash as if mocking me on my lack of knowledge. 

It was only at the end of last year, just before summer break started, that I last saw him. Keith was sitting in class, directly in front of me as he always did. Everyone was counting down the minutes till the bell. It was completely silent until Keith jumped out of his seat and ran out the class, completely oblivious to the teacher yelling after him. 

That was the last time anyone had seen of him. I hear people down the hall talking about how glad they were of his disappearance, that his 'kind' dragged this school through the mud. 

That was the reason as to why I have hardly any friends. They are all a bunch of... well, you can guess what I'm trying to say. Allura -though completely boy crazy- is the only decent person in the entire school. Everyone else... I'm not on talking terms with, other than the people in the writing club. Another reason is that I have social anxiety.

I groaned and threw my head back hitting the brick wall behind with a loud SMACK, alerting everyone in a twenty meter radius. I heard some chuckles to the right as I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed. 

I put my face towards the laptop to hide as Allura tossed a scowl at the person giggling. "You alright?" she asked looking at the now growing lump. 

"How am I supposed to find anything about some guy who doesn't even have any connections to someone in the school" I grumbled. Allura shrugged and continued to scroll through Instagram. 

Eventually I got bored of sitting around and went out to collect my books for the remaining classes I had. Walking through the hall was like a jungle. If you wanted to come out alive, the only way is to strategize. 

Keep to the right side, I weaved my way through freshmen keeping my head down to stop anyone from coming near. I hated crowded areas, they always made me feel claustrophobic and restless.

When coming up to locker 203, head up, look confident, you don't want people seeing your weaknesses. I looked around for 203 and adjusted my posture.

I saw Shiro with the rest of his bone-headed friends, all with big bulging muscles the size of my head and an I.Q of about 0. 

"Hey, Lance, how's it going?" Shiro waved in my direction. Crap, I've been spotted. 

He saunters over and puts a arm around my shoulder. My skin itches from where he's touching me. Sure, Shiro's one of the jocks but he's a generally nice guy, I'm glad he's the one Allura is fawning over. I would be friends with him if only he didn't hang around with a bunch of blockheads.

"g-good" I squeak, social anxiety getting the best of me. It's a genetic thing that runs through on my mum's side, and I was the only one out of five kids who was unfortunate enough to gain that gene.

"Could you tell Allura that I'm looking forward to our night at the football game next Friday?" Shiro asked, he let go of me and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

"Yeah" my anxiousness to get out of the position I was in ripping out any social ability I had. 

"Okay, cool. Thanks a lot, Lance. I'll let you go now." He walks away to talk to his friends as I scurry away to my locker.  
. . .

The rest of the day goes by as a blur and I don't get to see Allura for the rest of the day, so I decide to tell her the next time we hang out. 

The bell rings to sentence the end of the day, and every student rushes out of their chairs pushing each other out of the way like needy children, giving in to the welcome of sweet freedom. I fast walked myself through the school when I suddenly feel someone's hand wrap around my elbow. I yelp in surprise when they drag me towards them.

"Sorry, but are you Lance?" I turn towards the high pitched voice and see a girl who looks quite familiar. She was only up to my shoulder in height and had cropped mousy brown hair that went down to her chin. 

"Uh...yes?" my answer came out more as a question. She sighed and handed me a package.

"Someone told me to give this to you, they said that it will help you a lot?" She seemed slightly disbelieving in what she was saying. She must have seen my confused face and answered "yeah, they said also said something about a 'project' that your working on." 

Project? My mind immediately flicked to the report on Keith, but the only other person who knows about it is either the Writing club teacher and Allura. 

"Who gave you the package?" I looked down at it. It was badly wrapped, like a hurried last-second Christmas present. 

"No, I don't..." She seemed slightly confused with her answer. "Anyway, I have to go, I'll see you later. The name's Pidge, by the way." She waved a walked off, leaving me alone in the now empty hallway. 

"Crap" I said as I looked outside, it was starting to rain. Not only do I miss the bus, but I also have to walk home in the rain. Thanks, Pidge. 

. . .

By the time I got home I was soaked to the bone. I ripped off my Jacket and hung it up on the wall. I shivered and quickly ran upstairs chucked my bag and newly given package on my bed and rushed in the shower.

Once I came back out I hear the front door close. "Lance, you here?" I hear my mom call out to me. 

"Yeah mama, just give me a sec." I walk down the stairs and see her carrying three bags of shopping. She had quite a petite frame, unlike me, tan skin with light brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was probably one of my favorite people, even if I was in a crabby mood or just being a cow, she always wore a warm smile on her face that cause wrinkles to form around her eyes from the constant crinkles.

"How is my baby boy?" She asked, holding her arms out to give me a hug. 

"I'm alright" She laughed and let go of me. Being the youngest in the house, mum liked to use me as her own personal dress up doll, I looked at the bags she was holding and was right. New clothes. 

"So, I got a couple of suits for you from down the road that I think you will like to wear for your brother's wedding" She put the bags down and started to take out each item of clothing. 

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Though my mother was a very gentle, kind soul and loved to play dress up with me, she did not have any sense of fashion, as she pulled out a moss green, floral patterned suit and handed it to me. 

"You know what mom? I think I'll just buy my own clothes with Allura this weekend" I handed it back to her. 

"Oh Allura, such a sweet girl, how is she? I haven't seen her in a while." she put the clothes back in the bag and carried them over to the dining room bench.

"Yeah, she's cool. Currently 'totally in love' with Shiro, who she's going on a date with next Friday, after the football match." I mocked Allura's British accent. 

"And are you going?" 

"Probably."

"You need to get out more, Lancey," mom sighs. "This will be good for you." She walked down the hall towards the kitchen, I follow after her. 

"I guess... I just don't want to be third wheeling on their first date."

Mom stopped and cringed "Yeah, on second thoughts, maybe you shouldn't go." I silently cheered in my head.

"Don't worry, I'll go shopping with Allura on the weekend. Promise." 

Mom turns and stared at me, "and how long have you been holding that back for?" I answered her question with silence. "Your brother's wedding is in a month! You need to find one tomorrow, or else I'm using one of these" she held up the suit from before.

. . . 

I sit up in my room and look at the package, it doesn't have an address where it's from or an address for the receiver. For all I knew it could have been for an entirely different person.  
And that thing with Pidge was weird. How do you forget the person who asks you to mail a package to someone? Maybe she was just tried, most of us are when school finishes, even the teachers. 

Even though I was considering to not open the package, my curiosity got the better of me and I ripped open the plastic wrapping.

Inside was nothing more than an old videotape. I pulled it out and turned it around. Written on the back was a bunch of numbers; 444/

Who the cheese has videotape players anymore? Then I remember that mom and dad kept one for their old movies (every Saturday was a movie night). I raced down stairs and turn on the TV in the living room

The TV flashes to life and I put in the video. Though, what I saw was not expected, sure Pidge said that it would 'help' me on my project, but I didn't actually take her seriously. I let out a soft gasp when I see who's face pops up onto the screen. 

It was a video of Keith.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said before I am really sorry about this super short chapter. Don't worry though, because there are only going to be six chapters that are like this in the entire story, everything else will go by my average word length of around 2000-3000. Chapter three is still under some editing, but I'll try to post that earlier to make up for it.

“Uh… Hey Lance. I hope you’ve been having a better holiday than I have… Well, so much for a holiday considering school’s just started. I don’t care what anyone says about high school, it is not as fun as everyone says it is. 

Anyway, best to tell you how I have been… it’s been good actually, I can finally sleep now that the doctors have given me the proper dosage in my prescribed pills. I wasn’t sure when I was going to get any better. 

Mom also forced me into the photography club, something about extracurricular activities could bump up my marks. Photography out of all things? She knows I can’t take a photo without the centerpiece being blurry or distorted in someway. 

There also is this annoying pain-in-the-butt called Slav, he hasn’t left me alone since the semester started, I don’t know what he wants but he keeps asking me questions about realities and if I know anything about the Quantum Abyss. What the heck is a Quantum Abyss? 

Though I’m pretty sure he’s high again, or just a psychopath. 

uh... Shiro’s good, he’s great in fact. He earned his place as Football Captain this year. I’m really proud of him, he deserves it… I just wish that I could live up to the same standards as him. With amazing friends, girlfriend, success. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love him to death. He’s the most important person in my life after I came out last month. He was so supportive of me while mom... had a hard time trying. It’s just that… he is a constant reminder in my life of what I can’t be.

You would understand that, wouldn’t you Lance? You have four older siblings and yet… you’re the youngest. Don’t you feel that you have to live up to everything they did, every achievement they earned. What if you just wanted to be different? To have your own thing. 

Ugh. Never mind, I’m sure everything in your life is just peachy. Thanks for hearing me out anyway, I needed to let off some steam. 

How are you? I’m sorry about what happened to Veronica last week. Her boyfriend was a bit of a dick anyway, the way he would saunter around, showing her off. It was disgusting. 

There were all the signs too; sketchy tattoos, his stash of prescription drugs in his car… I just wish it wasn’t her, she was such a nice girl. How could anyone do that to her? So selfless, but there are people love to take advantage of that and use it for themselves. Don’t ever fall for anyone like that, you hear me Lance? It will destroy you.

… I guess I better be off, mom’s calling me down stairs for dinner. Tell ‘Ronnie that I hope she gets better. Bye Lance.”


	3. Chapter 3: 333/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, It's out two days earlier, just like I promised. I will add the new chapter next week, it's also a shorter one so I will add the chapter after it a bit earlier as well. I hope you enjoy.

After looking further, I came across something interesting. I found that Keith was very close with the Football Captain, Takashi Shirogane after he helped and supported Mr. Kogane come out to his mother. Though, their relations is unknown... 

“Lance could you get off your damn phone for one minute, you’re the one that asked me to come help you find something ‘decent’ to wear at Marco’s wedding” Allura huffed in annoyance and flipped through the different suits that were sitting on the rack. 

“Sorry, I just got… distracted.” More than distracted. I was freaking out. First, I get a mysterious videotape, from Anonymous, of Keith talking into a camera. Then when Keith starts talking he refers to the ‘audience’ as Lance, my name, and even going as far as to start talking about my sister, whom, I haven’t heard from since she left the house two years ago.

The scary thing is… We haven’t talked or met each other before. 

“God, Lance, when are you going to catch a break?” She sighed and walked over to me, holding out a light grey suit. “Soon, someone’s going to say or do something important and you will be too focused on your new report on that Kogane kid to even realise. Is this one alright?” 

I nodded my head and took it from her. “I’m not obsessed with Keith-” 

“Sure does seem like it.” 

“-I need to finish this and edit it twice, maybe three times. Look, Mrs. Braggen said she’d give me extra credit if I was to finish this properly, I might even get a chance to get it in the paper!” I was excited for this, if my report went into the newspaper I was sure to be recognised and at the very least, receive an internship.

I needed this, if I was to become one of the states best journalists I must get as much information on Keith as I could and as wrong as it was, that also meant that I had to use his video for information.

“How far are you willing to go for it, the internship?” Allura asked, she walked over to the change room. She opened up the curtain for me as I walked towards it. I stopped just before entering and looked her in the eye. 

“As far as I’ll have to.”

Allura laughed and closed the curtain behind me. “You drama queen. Get changed so we can get out of here.” 

I chuckled and started to strip but once I saw my naked torso in the mirror, I falter and my smile disappears. Blotches of white covering a too skinny body. I never really worried about it too much when I was younger, it just a normal everyday thing. That was until I reached middle school, the other kids didn’t like someone with two skin types, so they would constantly mock me for my white patches, going so far as to try and colour them in with a brown marker when I wasn’t looking. That’s when I found out that I suffered from Leucoderma. 

Thankfully, I have nothing on my face or neck, so I can get away with wearing long sleeved shirts and ankle length jeans. I even go as far as to cover my hands with gloves if I’m feeling really insecure. I didn’t let anyone but those close to me know of my condition.

Sometimes I try to forget it’s there. But that only lasts for a while, then I have my constant reminder that I will never live up to society’s standards of beauty. 

“Lance are you okay in there, you’re taking an awful long time” I heard Allura say from the other side of the curtain. 

“Uh...yeah, just give me a second, I’ll be out any minute,” I quickly jumped into the trousers and buttoned up the blazer before walking out. Allura whistled and catcalled as I strutted out the room. “How do I look?” I did a quick twirl and stopped with a pose. Allura laughed.

“Like Prince Naveen.”  
“From Princess and the Frog?” Allura nodded and ran around behind me to check the price tag. I heard her quickly suck in through her teeth. “What?” I ask and quickly turned around to her. 

“Nothing, just the price is a bit… pricey.” 

“How much?” 

“About three hundred.” I nearly fell over from panic. 

“Really?” Allura nodded again and looked through her purse. Before cheering out in triumph. A credit card was in her hand. 

One thing to learn about Allura, is that she’s loaded. Her father is the CEO co owner of Galtean Enterprises. A technological business. He is one of the leaders that develops new ideas for Apple and even Google. They also have a furnishing branch that sells some of the most expensive products on the market. Let’s just say that Alfor Altea is one rich, famous man, and I’m lucky to even be friends with his daughter let alone meet him.

“Allura, you really don’t have to…” She waved me off and forced me back into the changing room. 

“Don’t worry about it, you can treat me for lunch as payback.” 

“Are you sure?” I ripped off the clothes and handed them back to her. 

“Absolutely” I heard her walk off to the front and try to bargain with the person at the front desk. By the sound of it she won, when an unfamiliar voice groan in frustration. 

. . .

Allura and I ended up at C’est le vie a French restaurant that was just across the road from where we were. 

“Lance?” I hummed in reply. “Would you like to the art show that one of my cousins are holding. I have put myself as a nomination for the sculptor’s competition and I was wondering if you would like to go with Shiro and I.”

“That’s great ‘Lura.” I was really happy for her, she doesn’t often get to do stuff like this, so it was exciting that she put herself up for a competition. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to bore you or Shiro, but he assured me that it will be fine.” She shyly looked down at her menu. 

“Of course I do, I’m really proud of you for putting yourself out there when you get the chance.” I smiled warmly at her just as the waiter came to our table. 

“Hi, how are you? Is there anything that you would like to order at the moment?” She looked slightly tired, with big bags under her eyes and her blonde hair looked a bit of a bird’s nest. 

“Oh...um...I’ll have the fromage le coupe, thanks, but with no cherry tomatoes, I’m allergic to those” Allura smiled and looked at me expectantly. 

“...I’m having the caesar salad.” The girl smiled and winked at me. 

“Anything for you gorgeous.” 

I stuttered and blushed as she walked away. “What the hell was that?” Allura whispered in my ear. 

“I have no idea.” 

We both laughed and just as we both calmed down, I saw it. Keith’s missing photo hanging up on the wall with ‘Have You Seen This Person?’ written on the top. They were all over town, but as I saw it, I remembered all the crazy stuff that had just happened. 

“Hey Allura, you didn’t tell me how your and Shiro’s date on Friday went. Give me all the details.” 

Allura had already told me how it went earlier in the car. Shiro took her to this fancy restaurant nearby his place, they had their first kiss and then Shiro asked her to be his girlfriend. Pretty simple but romantic, how they were surrounded by thousands of roses and fireflies as they share their very first kiss. She explained that it felt like a hundred set off fireworks in her brain making her skin burn with want and turning her legs to putty. I was really happy for her. But that wasn’t why I was asking.

I needed a moment to think about Keith. He knew about my sister, Veronica, but nothing serious has happened to her, she doesn't even have a boyfriend. Maybe Keith was referring to another Lance and Veronica but that was highly impossible. So, how did he know about me? 

I’m not someone who gets out of their way to be friends with everyone, I’m only friends with Allura, Shiro and Hunk (a pen pal of mine), and I’m content with that. I never have really put myself out there so there is no way he could have known about me through friends. 

Unless Shiro told him about me…

“Do you know anything about Shiro’s relationship with Keith?” I ask suddenly. Allura stops midway through her speech about how it should have been a meadow of juniberrys. 

“Keith? Keith had a relationship with Shiro before he went missing?” Allura opened her mouth again to say something else when the girl from before came up to us with our food. 

“Here you go sweetie.” She placed down the food, it smelt amazing. 

When she walked away Allura whispered to me, “are you saying that Shiro is gay? That he’s using me as some sort of cover up?” 

“What?!No, and you do know that there is a thing called being bisexual.” 

Allura sighed, her shoulders slumping with relief. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” I scoffed. “Why are you asking me anyway? Nobody knows about Keith, especially Shiro”

She bit into her food and moaned in delight, ending our conversation. “God, this is really good. You have got to try this” She said in between bites. 

. . . 

I opened up my computer to text Hunk, he lives over at the Hawaiian Islands so our time zones are dramatically different. I won’t be expecting a reply from him anytime soon. 

Lance: Hey how’s it going, there is something I need to talk with you about so text me when you get this. 

I sigh and flop onto my bed. Allura’s art competition was on this Tuesday, it might get me a chance to talk with Shiro about Keith, get as much information on him as I can. That wouldn’t be the right time though, it would be to crowded and it isn’t exactly appropriate to talk about a supposed dead person and all their dirty secrets out in public.

I guess I’ll have to work with what I’ve got and talk with Shiro another time. God, if Hunk was here, he could give me some world saving advice.

“Mijo, It’s Veronica’s birthday soon and I want us to give her a call before its too late.” I hear my mom yell from downstairs. 

I’m surprised that mom even brings up ‘Ronnie. After she left, mom was distraught, her oldest daughter walks out of the house, only leaving a note that said ‘I had no other choice’. “Don’t ever do that to your mama, you hear that Lance?” Mom said to me a year after she ran away, “you will make my hair gray with worry, not unless you give me a heart attack first.” 

Mom never talked about her anymore. It was a silent agreement that she wouldn’t be brought into conversation, and on those days that I did, mom would go silent, her face blank and ashen. She had tried countless times to call her, every single time going to voicemail. 

So why now was she bringing it up? “Mama, will she even pick up?” I tried to reason with her as I walked down stairs.

“I have a feeling about this one, Mijo. Call it mother’s intuition.” 

“Okay… just not right now. I’m really tired and it’s also very close to midnight. No one is awake at this hour.” She sighs and looks down at her phone in longing. 

“I really miss her.” Her eyes began to water. I walked over and hugged her tight. 

“I know ,mama, I know.” 

we stood like that for awhile, then Mom took a deep breath, let go of me and forced on a smile. “Now, enough of that. You have school tomorrow and I don’t want you looking like the walking dead. So, get some sleep.” 

I smiled sadly at her and began to walk upstairs and when I reached my room I got a little surprise sitting on my bed. Innocent with 333/ stuck to the front, in all its badly wrapped Christmas paper glory. 

Another package.


	4. #2

“Hey, Lance. How are you? My life’s been going fantastic. I got offered a scholarship to one of the biggest art colleges in the state. I’m quite ecstatic, really and shocked.

Mom’s going alright. After everything that happened with all the health issues she’s been dealing with, she’s come out on the brighter side. Dr. Lotor is a pretty amazing at his job. I’ve haven’t seen mom this happy in years since the incident with dad. 

Dr. Lotor is also the person who finally gave me the proper dosage of medication that I needed. He’s a great guy when you get to know him, a wicked sense of humor with a fast wit. 

And you know what the best part is? He’s the son of Zarkon Daibazaal, the cofounder of Galtean Enterprises. Do you think he would know your friend Allura?

He’s going out of town for a business trip. Mom was a bit nervous about that but he had full confidence that we will both be okay. After all, the frequency of my night terrors is going down significantly. 

It’s relieving to hear that. I have been suffering from them since I can remember. Mom was so happy the first time I had a full night’s rest, we went out for ice cream to celebrate, even Shiro got time off to hang out with us…

After his latest break up, I think Shiro’s taken quite a liking to Allura. Sometimes he comes home and just continuously talks about how amazing she is and her ‘passion towards helping others’, his words not mine... 

Oh! The photography club is actually pretty fun, I recently just did my latest shoot that I kind of based off you… if that’s alright. 

It’s just I really hope you take in a more positive light then an insecure one and I wanted to show people some of the amazing things that you have to offer, despite of your flaws. I think that you are an amazing person, you really inspired me. I hope you get to see that photo in person, it’s one of my best works yet. 

I called it ‘Two Sides of a Coin’. I think it matches pretty perfectly with your demeanor. Calm, cool, and collected on the outside but a rage of emotions on the inside. 

The people there are also pretty cool… when they aren’t arguing which colors should be used in the palate or whatever that means. They are different from everyone else in the school, a lot more carefree and not so caught up in the competition of popularity.   
They remind me a lot of you.

One of my friends, Katie, she was part of the group as well. Not that she enjoyed it at all, she’s more into photoshop than painting. I think you guys could be really good friends, if only you put yourself out there, Lance…

It’s time for me to go, mom is expecting me to feed the dog. Could you ask Allura about Lotor for me? Thanks, bye Lance.”


	5. Two Sides of a Coin

Keith had suffered from a mental illness that caused him to have night terrors and insomnia. He had gone to specialists countless amounts of times and had come empty handed. Keith, then met Dr. Lotor, the son of Zarkon Diabazaal, who helped get him the proper treatment he needed…

“Are you sure everything’s alright? What if it isn’t good enough?” Allura’s voice ruptured me from my concentration.

“It will be fine, ‘Lura.” Shiro assured her and put his hand on her shoulder.

“He’s right, you know?” I interrupted. “You have one heck of a talent when it comes to art. I have no doubt that you will come out first place.” 

Allura smiled warmly at the both of us. “You guys are so good to me. I don’t think I need anyone else except you two.” She reached out, holding us in a group hug. 

“You deserve it.” Shiro whispered in her ear when we let go. They stared at each other before blushing and turning away. I averted my eyes, feeling as though I was interrupting a special moment between them. 

The contest rules were easy enough to understand. Each art piece was put into one of three categories; acrylic, clay (Allura’s category), and modern art. 

The artworks were then put out to the public who would then vote on their favorite piece. Each category had a winner for the most votes, who would win a thousand dollar check. But the real prize was the overall winner, who got the most votes out of the all the entries. 

They were not one of the winners of the category prizes and were kept until last, they won a check of five thousand dollars and had their artwork showcased at the front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

I could tell Allura was nervous. I was more than confident that she stood a chance. Allura was great at everything, art was no exception. 

“Come on, I think they’re starting.” Allura gasped and grabbed Shiro’s hand, dragging them deeper into the crowd. I was left behind to wander alone. 

I walked slowly across the room. Sure, I was staring at the art that was in front of me but I wasn’t ‘looking’ at it. My mind wandered from different things. Like Veronica’s disappearance, mom’s worry for her, and Marco’s upcoming wedding which was in about two weeks.   
Marco was my youngest brother, just four years behind Luis, the oldest out of my siblings. He would try to get me into football when we were younger, but it just never happened. I think he soon realised that I was never going to abandon writing. 

He was also the ‘lover boy’ out of our siblings. So, it was surprising when he came home one day for the holidays to say that he was newly engaged to Cindy, a girl who he met through college. Mama was more than happy to adopt her into the family. 

If I remembered correctly, Cindy is also pregnant with twins, which adds even more excitement to the wedding. 

I pass more paintings and woven silks until something catches my eye.

It was a photo of a woman, her face covered by her hand. She stood there, shirtless, but wearing a bed sheet over any ‘areas’. The skin that was showing was dark, like a coffee bean, but when your eyes wandered you saw patches of white that were covering her skin. She suffered from Leucoderma, just like me. 

I looked up to see who had taken it and read ‘TWO SIDES OF A COIN: In Memory of Keith Kogane’. My heart froze. ‘Who had successfully won the 2017 award of the most overall votes. 

That couldn’t be true. There was no way that Keith knew of my condition. I started to get angry, how dare he? He put up something private about me right into the public without even asking for permission. 

That’s when I realised that… I was probably overreacting like always. Keith hadn’t mentioned a single word about me on his art synopsis either when I read it down at the bottom. He likely didn’t base the photo on me at all. 

But what was concerning was finding another videotape of Keith on my bed that wasn't there before. Whoever was sending these packages to me obviously knew where I lived and who I was. That scared me, if they turned out to be dangerous than that means that I could put everyone I know in danger. 

“He was really talented, wasn’t he?” I turned around to see and man. He wore a striped turtleneck sweater with dark blue jeans and a pair of brown loafers. 

“Huh?” I said unintelligently. God, I was a social disaster. 

“Keith, he had an eye for photography. Haven’t seen many people like him in a long time,” he said and adjusted his orange mustache that sat under his nose. “I’m Coran by the way. Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe.” 

He held out his hand and I looked awkwardly at it before shaking it. “Lance...Lance Serrano…” 

“Ah… Like the mighty paladin, Lance?” He asked, his eyebrow twitching upwards. 

“Paladin?” I asked slowly. 

“Yes! One of our saviours of the universe, he was quite the funny one back in the day…” he sighed. “It was sad to see him go…”

“Okay?” 

“He was quite the charmer if I do remember... it certainly wasn’t long before Keith went after him.” He laughed, it was loud and bounced off the walls. People began to stare, my shoulders went up to my ears, I was trying to shrink down and not be noticed. 

“Keith?” I squeaked. 

“Well, not this Keith,” he motioned towards the photo. “Paladin Keith, but a Keith nonetheless.” 

“What do you know of our Keith, photographer Keith?” I asked. If he knew something then that would be amazing to finally get primary source information on him. 

“Lot’s of things, my boy. Lot’s of things,” He sighed and sadly looked back up to the photo. “I offered him a scholarship to the college I work at, nothing too big, but enough so that anyone with an average job could afford.”

“You gave him the scholarship!?” I exclaimed

“Yes, did you know him? He didn’t tell me of any friends other than Katie… unless...” His head went to the side in question. 

“No, I didn’t. Not personally at least.” 

“Huh. I was sure he mentioned your name once,” I shook my head. 

“Well, you sure seem like a nice boy, Lance. Come down and see me when you're free sometime.” He held out a business card, a phone number was written on the back with Coran’s entire name (huh, that’s how you spell it). 

“I need to be off, I hope all goes well with your friend’s artwork.”

“Wait I never told you-” he was gone, vanished into the crowd. Weird. Everything keeps getting weirder.   
“Lance, that’s where you ran off to. We couldn’t find you and began to think you outed on us.” Allura’s voice rang from across the room. 

“Sorry I just got distracted.” 

“Again!?” Allura huffed, exasperated and then looks to the photo under Keith’s name. “Oh, I understand now.” 

“No, it’s not like that.” I tried to explain myself 

“Of course,” She didn’t sound convinced and gave me a look. “They’ve already started with the announcements, can we just go.” 

We walked back to the front of the building. A stage was set up in the center. “Is everyone ready to get started with tonight’s new 2018 artist awards?” a man said, he waited for the cheers to die down. 

“Now, I know that most of you are just dying to see our overall winner but that will be held for last…” people booed in the crowd. “But what we will do is announce this year’s category winners.” 

I turned to Allura who was standing to my right. She was shuffling from foot to foot and fidgeted with her hands. Shiro put a comforting hand on her shoulder, she smiled back. 

“For the winner of modern art we have… Norah Summers. Acrylics is Samantha Ivory. And for clay is…” Allura has her fingers crossed tightly and her eyes closed. Praying to whatever God that was above that she will finally get her moment. 

“Jake Downy.” Allura sagged and she bowed her head down. 

“Hey,” Shiro said softly “there’s always next year ‘Lura.” She sadly nodded her head in agreement and leaned onto his shoulder. 

“Now for the overall winner-” 

“You know Allura, I’m sure there are many people who would die just to buy one of your artworks,” I assured her. “You are beautiful, talented, and extremely smart, even an old blind man can see that. There were many people in history that had a rough start. Take the author of Harry Potter for example.” 

“Drum roll please-” 

“Yeah, I guess you are right. I shouldn’t give up just yet.” She looked up and smiled. 

“Allura Altea!” 

. . . 

I smiled and laughed behind Allura and Shiro who sang ‘We Are the Champions’ while holding a giant trophy that was half in Shiro’s height. 

It turns out that Allura just needed a little bit more faith in herself. She became the overall winner and was now getting flown all the way to NYC to see her artwork be showcased at the largest museum in America.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out to see a text from Hunk. 

Hunk: Hey, I’m available to talk at the moment. Tell me all about it. 

I texted him a quick ‘sure’ and shoved it back in my pocket. “Uh...guys is it alright if you drop me off at my place on your way back?” 

Allura stops singing and turns around and frowned, “I thought you were going to have ice cream with us.”

“I was but… I just got a text from mama. Something’s come up at home.” 

“Okay,” Allura said hesitantly. “Is there something going on? Is she alright?” 

“Yes, she’s just making Ropa vieja and… we haven’t had that since Veronica.” I said sadly. I didn’t want to use my family as an excuse but sometimes those measures had to be used. My report on Keith was a very good example. 

“Okay…”

Allura, Shiro and I sat in silence for most of the ride. “Here we are,” said Allura as we pulled into the driveway. “I hope everything goes well with your mom. Tell her I said ‘hi’.” 

“Will do. Thanks for that.” Allura nodded in reply and drove away with a wave.

I ran upstairs (I must be getting fit from all the times I ran up and down the stairs in the past week and a half. I’ll have to thank Keith for that.) and jumped on my bed. I went on to skype and called Hunk’s contact. 

“Hey buddy, how you doing?” Hunk’s voice rang from my phone. 

“Where do I even start? It’s been such a messy week.” I sighed. Hunk was my go to ranting session. He always had time to listen and wouldn’t judge me of my more than ‘smart’ decisions in the past. 

“That doesn’t sound good.” He frowns and puts on his serious face.  
“It isn’t. This kid in my class, Keith, You’ve heard of him haven’t you? I must have told you about it.” 

“Yeah, the one who disappeared last year and you’re doing a report on him?” 

“Yeah, and the craziest thing happened and I somehow ended up with videos of him before he went missing.” 

Hunk did a double take. “Videos? What are they about? Who are they from?” 

“There usually just about Keith talking about his life, but that’s the thing, I don’t know who or where it’s came from,” I exclaimed and shot my hands into the air in frustration. “The craziest thing is that when Keith starts talking… he’s talking to me.” 

“What do you mean? You guys don’t even know each other.” I could feel Hunk start to freak out. This wasn’t just something that happens everyday. It was serious. 

“That’s the point! And the worst part is that the person who gave it to me had no clue of who asked them to send it.” I cried 

“Maybe you should look into it more. Ask them again, at least where they were when they received it, maybe that could give you some clue as to what’s going on” Hunk advised. 

“That’s a really good idea, Hunk. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Thanks, I needed to talk to someone about this. It’s quite hard to keep information like that to myself.” I said. 

“No problem, man. Let me know if you find out anything else,” There was a muffled yell from behind Hunk. “I better get going, otherwise ma will have a fit. Bye” 

The screen went black. Hunk’s advice helped me clear my mind from all the messy thoughts. Though I was searching for information on Keith, I really wanted to find out what happened to him. What was Shiro’s relation to him, his mental disorder and what happened to his dad? I was still yet to find out. 

But I have to go to the very start. I have to talk with Pidge.


	6. 6/

Keith Kogane had been a successful role in the art clubs upcoming success in last year’s Talented Artists movement, supported by the Altea family. His work ‘Two Sides of a Coin’ was deemed as the winner of the most overall votes…

“So, Lance. How is your report on Kogane going?” Mrs. Braggen peered over her glasses to look at me. 

“I think it’s going quite well. I’ve gotten a lot of useful information on him in the past two weeks.” It wasn’t a lie, I just didn’t want to tell her the truth on getting mysterious packages sent to my house in the middle of the night. That could raise some alarm bells. 

“That’s really good. What have you found?” She asked and shifted forwards. 

“I found out that his mother suffered from some type of illness, and that he also had some mental health problems, which I think could be used as a really good hypothesis as to why he-” I got really excited when I told her, this could be it, the next stage of my life, if she approves of my report then that means she’s sending it straight to the journalists. 

“Yes, yes I know of Keith’s mental issues. Is there anything else, anything useful.” My smile faltered, Did I not do a good job? I thought it would have been really useful, but apparently not.

“Um… well he was close with Shiro-”

“Takashi? The football captain?” She asked and paused, thinking to herself “interesting…”  
“Yes, but I don’t know too much about why or how, though.” I said and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Then that is your newest task, find out more information on Takashi and Keith’s relationship and more on his family as well.” She nodded at me to answer. 

“I don’t think that will be very useful for-” I tried to say but Mrs Braggen stopped me. 

“If you want to become a good writer than you will do as I say,” She said sternly. “All this rubbish on Keith’s mental health is old news, the audience needs something newer and fresher, like the relationship between the loner and one of the most known students in the school… and if you don’t, then I guess I won’t be able to even touch your report with a ten foot pole.” 

“I will,” I rushed out. “I promise that I will give you the better report by the next two weeks.” I didn’t want to miss my chance. I had to have Mrs. Braggen look over my work.

“Well, I guess that settles it then. I’ll see you in the next two weeks. Goodbye, Lance” 

. . . 

I shuffled my way around the empty hallway. I looked back on the conversation I just had before with Mrs. Braggen.

I didn’t understand her anger towards me writing about Keith’s mental state. She seemed to overreact a little even when I asked her. Was my writing really that bad? What seemed to confuse me even more was her persistence on me writing about Shiro. 

Their relationship has nothing to do with why he disappeared. Shiro’s too nice of a guy to do something like that, and he was also, by the sound of it, really close with Keith. 

I sighed loudly to myself as I entered the cafeteria, it wasn’t a really populated place, most people stayed outside during this time of the year. The cafeteria’s aircon crashed in the middle of summer two years ago and the school still hasn’t been bothered to get it fixed. 

I grabbed myself a sandwich and sat down at a lone table. Allura was studying for her history exam, and I didn’t want to hangout with any of Shiro’s friends, so I was all alone this lunch. 

That was until I saw a head of messy brown hair enter through the back doors. It was Pidge. 

Remembering my last conversation with Hunk, I quickly got up and rushed over to Pidge. “Hey, Pidge.” I said quieter than I wanted. Damn my social anxiety. 

“Lance?” She turned around and tilted her head to the side.

“I need to… talk with you.” I forced out. My hands were clammy and my heart beated a mile a minute. Every nerve in my body was screaming to get away. 

“About what?” She grunted and continued walking. I quickly followed after her. 

“About the package that you gave me two weeks ago.” She whirled around, making me flinch and take a step back. She narrowed her eyes. 

“I told you, I don’t know who made me do it, okay?” She huffed. 

“I just want to know about where you saw them, maybe I could get a clue on who it was.” I said nervously, shifting from foot to foot. 

“At the park near my place- but why do you need to know this all of a sudden. You didn’t seem to care too much during the last two weeks.” 

“I… just got a bit curious…” She narrowed her eyes even more that it looked like they were almost closed. “Can I just… get the information... I’ll leave you alone after that.” 

She didn’t seem satisfied with the answer but obliged otherwise. “I got it at Arus Park, the one a couple of suburbs away from school.” 

The bell rung, sentencing the end of Lunch. I ran down the hall to get to my class but not before yelling a “thanks, bye” behind me. I heard Pidge yell after me but I didn’t know what she said. 

. . . 

I sprinted out the door when the end of school bell rang. I needed to get to Arus Park, maybe whoever sent Pidge to give me the video might go there often. 

I knew it was unreasonable. Maybe they stumbled upon her when they were walking some place else, saw the uniform and thought ‘hey, she goes to the same school as Lance. That gives the stress of having to sneak into the school off my shoulders’. 

There was no plan I was following of what I was going to say or do when I caught them. Or how I was going to find them either.

Throwing my school bag on the park bench, I slouched over the chair. I had a mountain of homework to do for my Marine Biology assignment coming up in the next week, so I couldn’t stay long. 

After seeing the ice cream shop just across the road I decided to get myself something. I deserve it for what I do, self care is after all a very important part of being healthy. 

I left my bag on the bench, nobody else was there so it wasn’t like it was going to get stolen and walk across the road. 

The shop itself, unlike the park, was packed full of screaming children. Don’t get me wrong, I love children, but this was too much. I was just about to leave when I heard someone call out to me. 

“Lance” I turn around to see Coran, the man I saw at the art thing that Allura won. 

“Uh… Hey?” I answered. Coran waved at me to come forward. “I thought you were a college professor, not an ice cream employee.” 

“I’m more like a ‘helper’, my boy.” He said and rushed passed the others he worked with, who struggled to fill cones with different flavored ice cream as customers piled up on each other. “And, I’m more like the employer of this place, I own this ice cream shop.” 

“Oh… I’m sorry, my mistake.” 

“No, don’t worry. What can I get for you.” He asked and grabbed a cone from the side.

“Vanilla… and… mint, please.” I said. Coran ran from one side to the other. He would’ve looked ridiculous if only there weren’t others running around like him.   
“Here you go, my boy. Don’t worry about the price, it’s on the house.” Coran said as he handed me the cone. 

“Thank you.” I said shyly and went to leave. 

“Before you go, I just wanted to say that if your in need of anything, like college scholarships or perhaps adult advice, I am more than willing to help.” He insisted. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I smiled and walk away. Coran was a very strange man. 

As I walked across the street I checked the time on my phone. I read 4:45, shit, Mama was expecting me home by five. 

I guess I was going to take on another time watching out for Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous. I was disappointed, why did I have to get distracted so easily. 

I picked up my bag and hesitated. It felt different. I zipped it open. 

“No fucking way.” 

Inside was another package, it had 6/ stuck to the front… underneath, it said ‘Good luck trying to find me’. 

What the hell have I gotten myself into? 

. . .

I trudged my way back home and flew open the door. It was dark… and quite. 

“Mama?” I called out. I got a sob in return, I panicked and ran towards the living room.   
My mom sat in on the lounge, her hand up at her mouth as her body shook with sobs. “I’m sorry” she said over and over. 

“Mama, what’s wrong?” I asked, she looked at me, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, her face held glistening tear tracks. 

“Veronica… she-she.” Mom stopped and cried even harder. I held out my arms and folded her into a hug.

“What is it? What happened to her?” I asked softly. 

“She was in an… accident.” 

. . .

As it turns out, my sister, who was missing for two years was found not far from California. She was rushed to hospital after police were called to her apartment when the neighbours complained about loud noises late that night. They found her nearly beaten to death on the kitchen floor. 

They found the suspect as what they figured was her boyfriend. She had supposedly found him cheating with another woman and had beaten her as ‘punishment’. 

Once he was in their custody, the police also found large amounts of prescription drugs he had stored in his car. 

Mom was an emotional mess when she found out. She demanded to see her daughter and the man who hurt her, but the police forbid it saying that they were currently under questioning. We weren't even informed on the full extent of damage that was caused to her. 

“Mama, are you okay?” I knew it was a stupid question to ask. Of course she wasn’t.

“Yes, Mijo, I’m just… anxious.” She answered shortly. 

“You shouldn’t worry too much, ‘Ronnie has always been a tough girl, she can get through this.” I said. She didn’t looked convinced. 

‘That’s it though, what if she is not the same girl who helped me make Ropa vieja.” She said sadly. 

I went silent. Veronica was always the fighter of the family. She was very fierce and wouldn’t stand for any of the kids who bullied her baby brother. I was closest to her out of the rest of my family. She was also the first person I came out to about my bisexuality. Veronica was my best friend. Was. Until she ran away. 

“She’ll be fine.” I said quietly. 

I was stressed. Keith had said something like this would happen. He said that my sister had a boyfriend and how much of a jerk he was to her... the prescribed drugs… an accident... something’s wrong. Very wrong with what Keith was saying.

He can’t have predicted what happened. That’s not possible, it can’t be. There is no way he could have known what happened to my sister. He didn’t know her either, she finished high school just as I started, so he couldn’t- shouldn’t know about those things. He predicted it two weeks before it happened, perhaps even more…

There was more behind this than I’d thought, the videos, predictions, strangers who know my every move. Someone wants me to find out what happened to Keith last year, why he up and left out of nowhere. 

They want me to find out why.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long delay. Some stuff is going on at home so my updates will be pretty slow because of the internet loss. Just sit tight, don't worry though! I do plan on putting up chapter 8 in the next week or two. Hang on guys and love y'all <3

“God, I’m so tired… Uh… Lance, hello again. It’s been awhile since I’ve last spoke to you. Lotor came back from his business trip, everything went smoothly while he was gone... I guess. 

I’m sorry, I just feel a bit off today. I didn’t get the best sleep last night, I… had another dream. It was weird because it shouldn’t be happening anymore. 

The dream was a lot different from the others I’ve had in the past… because most of them were about myself but now I’ve started dreaming about other... people? I don’t know if that means something or if it’s just a coincidence but I’m going to talk with Lotor about it in my next session. He might know what’s going on or might just amp up my dosage again. 

It’s weird how close I’ve gotten to Lotor. I never expected myself to open up to someone like him, I’ve always had a hard time trying to ‘get myself out there’, I guess we’re both similar in that area. 

After what happened with dad and the whole health thing with mom… I had a hard time trying to get closer with people. I was scared that they would leave me before I even got the chance to say how important they are, and that hurt. A lot. 

Then Lotor came, in his charismatic way and somehow weaved his way in. As hard as it is to say, I trust him…

Mom’s been having a better time than I have. She finally was able to come out of the house for longer than an hour at a time. She doesn’t look as weak and fragile.   
We’ve been trying to find a job for her that won’t set off any high levels of stress. I think the flower shop not far from school is a good idea. I’ll be able to stay close to her in case something went wrong.

Lance, it is so amazing to see her smiling again, you would not believe how happy it makes me to see he smile everyday. We had a couple of rough patches here and there but… we’ll always be close.

I love her more than anything else. To see her go through that state of depression when she got sick really hurt me. I just wish there was someone else who could help Shiro and I look after her. Someone like dad.

I wish he was still here. He left us... Without even a goodbye! Just up and left like nothing happened, like he didn’t exist. The only mark proving his existence being mom’s state of depression. I. Hate. Him. 

And-and mom refuses to even think of anyone else to be with. She has completely devoted herself to him! I’ve tried so many times but she always pushes it aside, Lance. 

He’s messed up my entire family! My mom, now single and has to look after her selfish, bratty, untrusting teenage son, who can’t seem to get his head in the right place, or make the right decisions. And now she suffers from not only some state of depression but also Leukemia! He left her to die alone! 

I… I really wish you were here with me right now, Lance.


	8. Chapter 8: Where's Wally Begins

"Holy shit." My head turned so fast that I nearly gave myself whiplash.

Standing directly outside my window, was none other than Pidge. "Oh my- Pidge!? What the hell are you-"

"I had to find out why you were being so... weird when asking about that parcel. So, when I saw you at the park, I decided to follow you home." She said, shrugging as she climbed through the window.

Pidge walked towards me and grabbed the tape out of the recorder, analyzing and holding it like an ancient artifact. "How did you get this?" She asked and turned it around, staring at the numbers on the back.

"I found it." I said quickly, I still debated over telling a complete stranger (Who followed me home, as a side note) the truth of the mysterious tapes

"You're lying," she said suddenly and put the tape on the bed before skipping in my direction. "You avoided eye contact and quite the fidget-er, basic giveaways... so tell me, how did you find this? Are there more? Don't try lying again, I'll know if you do."

"Someone is... sending them to me, and yes there are more videos."

"Someone, indicating that you don't know who?" She asked, her eyebrows raised when I nodded.

"Unnerving?" I said and sat next to her.

"Yeah..." She suddenly raised her head and turned to me, "how have you been getting them and still not knowing who the sender is?"

I shifted. "That's a very good question," She raised her eyebrow "I've sort of... I don't know... found them in my house?" I sounded more confused than she did.

"Wait, someone's been sneaking into your house?" I nodded. "That's crazy."

"That's also the reason why I'm going to be going to the Police if they don't-"

"No!" She lurched forward and grabbed my arm. "They can't know, if they do, we won't be able to find out what happened to him and they'll try to stop us. Maybe these videos are can give some information on what happened or maybe even where he is." Pidge said.

"Why are you so desperate to find him?" I asked and ripped my arm from her. My skin burned and felt like lead in her grip.

"We have... history." she said the last part quietly. She sighed and got of the bed and walked towards the door. "Look, our families are pretty close but we haven't seen them since before he disappeared..."

She sighed again before shaking her head"So, what I'm thinking is that we go see Krolia, his mom, and see if there was anything sketchy going on."

She led me outside to the car. "We need to get a ride if we want to talk with her. They lived on the top floor of a flower shop on the other side of town."

"The place where his mother works?" I asked.

Pidge answered with a nod. "She's always there, poor thing hasn't left it since Keith left, she had gotten sick over stress."

I grabbed the car keys, not without leaving a note to mama, saying that I needed to get out for a while. I couldn't afford her to go into another emotional mental down because she couldn't find her son.

When I started the car and got us down the main road I remembered Mrs. Braggen's new 'assignment'. "You wouldn't know about Keith and Shiro, would you?"

Pidge hummed in reply. "What's in it for you?" She then sighed "I guess it won't hurt him since he's gone."

She lowered the volume of the radio before turning in her seat to face me, "Shiro is Keith's brother."

"Brother?" I nearly swerved, "never once have I seen them interact in public, neither do they look alike."

"That's because they are half brothers, they share the same mom," Pidge said. "Once Shiro's dad fucked off to wherever he came from, while Krolia was still pregnant with Shiro, Akira, Keith's dad, came into the picture."

I guess Allura's fears with Shiro's sexuality where now answered, Shiro was most definitely not romantically interested in Keith.

We drove silently, but I still had questions. "How do you and Keith know each other, I know it was through family but what actually happened?"

"Shiro was very close with my brother, Matt. Best friends," she looked out the car window going quiet. I thought she was finished until she said, " They would hang out often, sometimes taking me and Keith with them. Though, when Matt left for college... they drifted."

"When did he leave?"

"Last year, they drifted because... you know what? Never mind." I didn't want to force it out of Pidge so I chose to stay silent.

"I...uh... heard about what happened to your sister" Pidge said suddenly. "I heard your mom talking about it when I followed you home, she seemed pretty upset over it." She said quickly once she saw my confused expression, a change of subject, however I doubted it made either of us feel better.

"Yeah?" I closed myself off. I didn't like outsiders knowing of my personal life.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, "I know how difficult it must be to constantly worry about your family."

"I'm angry." I said.

"Why?"

"Because she left."

. . .

"Are you sure this is the place?" I said when we stopped out the front of the shop. All the lights in the upstairs were off, surrounding the house in complete darkness

"Yeah the only reason its dark is because Krolia insists they use candles instead of actual electricity, even though they have solar panels on the roof. She went a bit cuckoo when she got sick, always going on about the government," Pidge explained while she walked to the side of the house, I quickly followed after her.

When she pressed the doorbell, scuffling and a quiet muffed 'down Kosmo' came from behind the door. A middle aged woman appeared, she smiled and attempted to (Though failing) block a chocolate lab from jumping on Pidge and (Though it looked more like a wolf).

She looked very beautiful but however it seemed that months of stress and illness had taken their toll on her. Striking purple hair neatly held into a ponytail was wispy and frayed. Her golden eyes, once very prominent, would've dazzled hearts and held wrinkles from years of laughter were now dull with heavy bags hanging underneath. Her body was feeble and weak, she had little to no fat causing her to look skeletal.

"Oh Pidge, how lovely it is to see you." Krolia opened the door wider, but not before pulling Pidge into a hug, "and you brought a friend."

She ushered us into the lounge room/ kitchen, In the rush I did catch a glimpse of a few lit candles and family photos in the hall.

"Would you like a cup of tea? I was just making some for Shiro when he comes home." She pulled out a camping kettle, matches and

Boxes of different tea bags; chamomile, peppermint, early grey, chai, english breakfast and many others I didn't know the name of.

"Ah no thank you," said Pidge. She awkwardly side eyed me, "The reason we came here was-"

"I want to know more about Keith. I didn't really get to know him very well and guessed that you were probably the best person to ask." I spoke over Pidge, "I'm lance."

"Lance?" She spoke my name soft and slowly and tilted her head to the side in thought, "I feel like I've heard your name, have we met before?"

"I was in some of the same class as Keith, maybe you saw me once at one of the school fates." That was a lie, I have never been to a school fete, I tried my best to avoid anything that has to do with my fellow schoolmates. Spending five days a week was enough for me.

"Perhaps..." Krolia said, her eyes shifted but then brightened just as quickly, "if you want to know about Keith then the best time is now. Shiro doesn't like it when he's mentioned, thinks that it's his fault that Keith left, he already has to worry enough about me, poor boy has grown up too fast."

She brought us over to the couch, grabbing a plate of cookies (how did she make them in an apartment if she doesn't use electricity?) on her way and siting them on top of the coffee table.

Pidge helped herself to them greedily. "Thanks a lot Mrs K, you don't know how much I've missed your cooking, " she said with a mouth full of cookie.

I sighed at her and decided to ask, " Why was Keith so..." I waved my arms about, trying to find the right word. "Distant from everyone?"

Krolia's smile became strained, "Keith was always 'special' compared to the other kids," she sighed. "He had a normal childhood, if only he didn't have those damn dreams."

The chocolate lab (Kosmo?) for before padded into the room, his tongue hanging from his mouth as he sat next to Krolia. "Keith had the wildest imagination, saying that he went into a weblum and helped a princess save the universe," she patted the labs head. "His father and I-we thought that he was just being a child, children tend to be creative... aren't they? We-we thought that he would grow out of it..."

"But it didn't" I said. She nodded.

"Because of that... Keith didn't have many friends, none at all actually. So, he spent his time alone, or with Shiro, that's why I got Kosmo, I was so worried, I-I thought that a dog, some kind of companion would make him better, but I should've known that he needed other humans, human friends." Krolia's eyes became wet, "He loved Kosmo but it just wasn't enough, I knew at the time that it wasn't the same thing. Keith was still isolated and bullied, but I ignored it, and-and when his father... and then I got sick... I guess it just became too much, I couldn't stop him from leaving"

Krolia's hand began to shake, forcing her to put down her cup of tea.

"It wasn't your fault," sad Pidge, she placed a hand on Krolia's shoulder. "Keith's leaving was his own fault, you had nothing to do with it..."

"But I was there for him when he needed me most. I turned my back on him when he first came out." Tears squeezed out of her eyes.

"Is that why you took him to see Lotor?" I asked after she took a couple of deep breaths. Pidge knocked my ankle with her own and gave me a pointed look. I was being inconsiderate to her obvious stress. My cheeks colored in shame.

"Yes," Krolia answered, surprising me. She looked puzzled, the age old wrinkles on her forehead deepened and she wipes tears from her eyes. "How do you know about that?"

"Because Shiro told us." Pidge said quickly, she gave me a be-careful-look.

Krolia seemed shocked, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, "But Shiro-"

"If you don't mind me asking," I changed the subject quickly. "What happened to Keith's father?" 

"His father..." Krolia's voice drifted, going along with the change. "Was a god among men. He was thoughtful, open-minded, kind..."

A dreamy smile was plastered on her face, "though he was very quiet and stoic, much like his son... I definitely know how to pick 'em."

Giggles spilled from her lips "Keith looked up to that man like he was his knight in shining armor, this pure... unbreakable soul."

Krolia's smile vanished and was replaced with a sorrowful look, "He was a firefighter, put his life on the line to save others, and one day he was called to work."

She gasped a dry sob, " they-they said that he went to save the family dog, but the house collapsed, trapping him in." Kosmo beside her whimpered and she stroked his head, "Some-somehow, the dog survived. There was a hole in the wall, but my husband he-he..."

"My husband died alone." Krolia seemed to turn off like a machine. Her entire body went still, reliving the memories of her lover, or in distress.

He had died. Keith was resentful because his father sacrificed himself to save a family he didn't know. Keith was-is still grieving, years after his father's death. He was angry because the last moment with him weren't taken advantage of and he felt guilty.

Suddenly, waking me from my thoughts was Kosmo as he ran down the hall, barking.

"Mum, I'm home!" Came a voice from downstairs, the front door seeming to slam shut behind them.

Shiro was home.

"I've also bought some chicken curry from the shop, you know the one you've been craving at the moment." He chuckled to himself.

Pidge and I make eye contact. We didn't know what to expect from him when he sees us sitting in his lounge room with his mum having a mental breakdown, it wasn't the best picture. I shifted nervously in my spot.

I heard his footsteps stop as he reached the lounge room, staring at Pidge and me, then to Krolia. Pidge let out a sharp intake of breath beside me. "Lance? Pidge? Mum... what did you do?" His face hardened and stormy-grey eyes narrowed.

He beckoned us to follow him into the hallway, leaving Krolia alone, who had a fresh set of tears streaming down her face, staring lifelessly at the now empty cookie-less tray, thanks to Pidge.

Shiro's back was facing us as he took deep calming breaths. "What happened?" He asked once he was stable enough. "Why are you here?"

I had never seen Shiro this angry. At school and around Allura, he smiled and joked, he was laid back, but seeing him like this. Jaw tight, eyes intense. His entire body twitched in agitated as he looked us Pidge and I over.

"We were talking to her about Keith." Pidge said quietly, "Lance and I... we just wanted to know why or at least more about him..."

That seemed to fuel his anger even more as he turned to look at me, it felt like he was burning holes into my body. "Don't think I don't know about that article of yours, you shouldn't be snooping when this is obviously none of your business." He looked at Krolia who was still on the couch.

"I don't want my brother's face stuck to a notice board with a bunch of bullcrap rumors saying that he was a psychopath. He might've had a mental illness but... It doesn't make him the bad guy, or messed up or god forbid a serial killer."

"If you want to write about him..." Shiro said, his voice wavered, "at least tell the truth, and don't go looking for it here of all places, my mum doesn't need that kind of stress at the moment, she just lost her son."

His eyes settled next to me, "I think you have overstayed your welcome... and Pidge, don't let me catch you doing this again your brother has done enough as it is."

Pidge and I made out way back to the car silently. Pidge wrung her hands together, either out of embarrassment from being called out or the awkward atmosphere that was thick in the air... maybe it was both.

"So... what are we going to do now?" I asked Pidge. She stayed silent, choosing to ignore my answer. Her body language, closed off.

"What did Shiro mean by, 'your brother has done enough as it is?'" I pressed on.

"Nothing you need to know. Haven't you nosed around enough already. I hope it's useful for your... article" Pidge snapped back. I never told her about the article, she must've thought I used her. Her words stung but she was right.


	9. Chapter 9: We Become Police (/66)

As I have digged deeper into the mystery of Keith’s disappearance, I have found that he and Takashi are blood related, they are half brothers on their mother’s side. It seemed that in his early years, Keith’s father died in a house fire tragedy which seemed to cause his tendency to isolate himself…

“How are we going to do this?” I asked Pidge. It was a couple of days after seeing Krolia and we met back up at her place to make a plan ‘B’. Though, I sensed Pidge wasn’t as enthusiastic as before. 

“Do you think this is a really good idea?” She sighed and flopped onto her bed, “I mean, do you remember what Shiro said? Maybe we should be careful and not go looking into things that have nothing to do with us in the first place.” 

“The only reason Shiro said that was because I mentioned my report I’m writing on him.” I said, Pidge’s head snapped towards me. 

“If I had known you were doing a report I would have never taken you to see Krolia,” her eyes narrowed and she scowled at me. “If I had known you were going to do something like that…”

“What is so wrong with making a report!?” I asked, exasperated, “First, Shiro, now you? Why are you so against it?” 

“Because they exaggerate, they- they tell the wrong story,” She threw her hands into the air. “It’s all propaganda!”

She stood back up and strode from one side of the room to the other, “They only tell you want the public want to hear… they don’t want to know about some kid who decided it was a fun idea to go camping for a year and not tell anyone. They want gossip!” Pidge got louder and louder as her lecture continued. “They want stories of how he disappeared, oh that Kogane kid went missing did he? Well let me tell you, I heard that he has some messed up family, he has some serious mental problems!” 

“Do you really think that?” I said. 

Pidge faltered from her speech. “What?” 

I swallowed, hesitating before saying “Do you really think he just went on some trip and didn’t tell anyone?” 

“He’s done it before…” Pidge whispered, “When I first met him-when he first came out, he just... disappeared. I-I don’t know everything behind it because that was when I just met him, but what he told me was that it gave him time to think it over.” 

“Was that why his and Krolia’s relationship was so strained?” I asked. 

“She was angry because he didn’t tell her, she thought that he didn’t trust her,” Pidge explained. 

She sighed again “fine. I’ll keep searching for him. I just want my best friend back.”

We sat in silence. 

“He had a doctor,” I remembered. “He had a doctor named Lotor, Keith mentioned him a lot in his videos.” 

“Well?” Pidge said “Let’s go” 

. . . 

Thanks to Pidge’s godly hacking abilities, we were able to pinpoint all the different certified psychologists in the state that held the name Lotor (which can I say was more than I expected, Lotor isn’t a really popular name) and their list of patients. 

We stood outside the ward, it smelled strongly of overused sanitation products. Pidge gagged “I don’t know how he was able to go to a place like this” 

Just before we stepped into the building my phone buzzed; 

Allura: Hey, I’m struggling a little with calculus, can you help me please??<3.

I couldn’t help her, I had to do this. She doesn’t understand how important this was. I couldn’t be distracted. 

Lance: Sorry, I can’t. Something came up at home, I’ll tell you tomorrow <3.

Allura: Okay. 

“C’mon Lance, it closes in twenty minutes, we need to get through quickly.” I quickly followed Pidge inside, who was standing at the front desk. 

She seemed to be having an argument at the lady at the front desk. “I’m sorry but I can’t let you see him, he is with a patient at the moment.” She said to Pidge with a stern look. 

“Ma’am, you are going to have to let us, Government orders.” Pidge threw down two license both one mine, the other hers.They were police identities. The receptionists eyes widened.

“Yes, of course, I’m sorry about that miss,” She said quickly, shuffling through files of paper before reaching for the phone. “Good evening Lotor… yes people have come here to see you… it seems very important.” 

A muffled voice comes out of the phone as she finishes. “He’ll see you now,” She said simply and pointed down the hall “Turn left and his office will be the third door on the right” 

We gave our thanks and headed towards our next destination in our search for Keith, I hoped it would be more successful than the last. 

“What the hell was that?” I turned and asked Pidge when we were far enough away. 

“Just a little frauding never hurt anyone.” Pidge said innocently. 

“We could get into serious trouble if this gets to the police, I don’t want to end up as a fugitive or in jail,” I said harshly as we turned right. “But I guess some rules have to be broken, for Keith’s sake.” Pidge smiled at that. 

“Though, seriously, how and when did you do that?” 

“It’s quite basic, really, we only need to fool the receptionist, and to answer your other question; while you were in the toilet. You really take a god awful long time in there.” Pidge said simply. 

“I was doing my face routine!” I snapped at her, my face glowed multiple shades red. 

“sure “ She said with a wink and smirk on her face, she was only teasing. 

I held my breath as we got closer to the door. This could be the opportunity we need to find out what happened to him, what could’ve caused him to leave, it surprised me Lotor hadn’t been spoken to yet from how serious the police have made it. 

Keith’s face was plastered on every notice wall in town. They gave weekly updates about his case, though nothing has happened yet, Pidge and I are probably gotten the furthest on finding out what happened. That is saying a lot, considering we are both just teenagers. 

Pidge knocked on the door. A man with white blonde hair and tanned skin opened the door for us, he was quite handsome, he was clean shaven and very well kept hair that was pulled into a ponytail (I was quite jealous I had curly hair that got continuously knotted and looked like a rat’s nest most of the time). 

“Hello, officers, I’m sorry but I’m just with a patient at the moment, so if you could just wait kindly outside, that would be very much appreciated” His voice was smooth as honey and very alluring, no wonder Keith trusted him.

We waited a couple more minutes before the door opened again and a young woman around her twenties came out and went down the hall, not before giving us a strange look. 

“I’m sorry for the hold up, it was very important that I spoke to her before, I hope you understand.” He said while guiding us to the chairs across from him. 

“No that’s alright,” said Pidge. 

“Yes...” said Lotor, I don’t know if it was just me but the look he gave her was really starting to freak me out. 

Pidge cleared her throat awkwardly before continuing,”Uh, we are here to talk about the situation with Keith.”

Lotor raised an eyebrow and peered quizzically at the both of us, “Yes, I guessed that… though, why is it just now that you are coming to me.” 

“We… uh… had some things to go through first-” 

“Paperwork, lots of paperwork” I added in helpfully. 

“Before we could do anything, a case like this can be very hard too keep on top of when there are many other things going on. There is a rise in crime rate in the city at the moment, we get interrupted quite a bit” Pidge lied, she was becoming nervous under his gaze and fidgeted with her hands under the table. 

“But… I know this is none of my concern, but shouldn’t that life of a teenage boy be your top priority over that of a criminal?” He said suspiciously, I was really starting to get annoyed with all his questioning. We should be the ones asking questions not him. We were wasting time. 

“We have had a shortage of Policemen over the past couple of months,” Pidge said quickly, nice save. “Going back on topic, we have a few questions regarding his… mental wellbeing... and would like to know the severity of his ‘disorder’ and anything that might be important to the case”

“I’m sorry but I can’t tell you.” He said simply. 

“What?” I asked, I had enough of him changing the subject, and now he just flat out refused to tell us on what happened. 

“Unlike the naive receptionist at the front desk, I will not be fooled by two bumbling simpletons who think they can get confidential information on one of my missing patients” Lotor said calmly, he crossed his legs and folded his hands on top of his knee.

“Though, can I say that the act was quite well played, though do try to be more commanding and confident when you speak, it gives you away instantly if you don’t” Lotor half smiled at us. 

“We came, here for answers.” Pidge tried to argue

“And that you have gotten very far, I congratulate you, but if the police have came for information in the past six months he’s been missing, I don’t expect them coming anytime soon,” Lotor looked down at his watch. “I do think it’s time you leave, I have another patient waiting just outside that door and I really need to get to them soon” 

He ushered us outside the door.

“Wait!” I said quickly before he closed the door. “Do you know Allura Altea?” 

“Yes… I would be mindful of that one if I were you, she can be quite manipulative and deceiving when she wants something.” He said before closing the door. 

. . . 

“What the hell was that?” Pidge asked me once we were out of the building “Out of all the questions to ask, you ask about that bimbo blonde friend of yours.” 

“She’s not a bimbo,” I said sharply “And for your information, Keith asked me to find out if they knew each other.” 

That shut Pidge up, she looked towards the car, neutral faced. 

We were silent for most of the ride back until- 

“He was my best friend.” Pidge said suddenly

“What?” I asked

“Keith, he was my best friend, my only friend… before I met you.” She said shyly. I felt happiness flood me at the announcement of a new friend. Then it hit me.

“You wouldn’t be Katie, would you?” I asked her, she stiffened before relaxing and smiling softly. 

“Yeah, I am. Katie Holt,” her smile grew wider. “Not many people call me that, only Keith and my brother,” 

“They were the only people in my life that I actually cared about, aside from Shiro,” she looked out the window. “Losing Keith was a pretty big deal… I can’t deny that I was angry that he was gone…” 

“That’s why your trying so hard to look for him.” I said, she nodded and sighed.  
“I thought he left because he just couldn’t handle it anymore. I thought he was a selfish prick for leaving the rest of us behind,” she suddenly went thoughtful. “Funny thing is that… he did mention you once or twice in a conversation, he was quite… interested in you, I never understood why, until now…” 

Pidge twisted towards the back to grab her bag, she rummaged through it, mumbling about how she had to text her mom about being late home when I suddenly hear her gasp. 

“No fucking way” I turn her what happened when my question was already answered. Another video tape, another number stuck to the back, a solid 66/ stuck to the side with the words ‘you’ve got to try harder than that’ underneath. 

“Jesus fucking Christ.”


	10. Chapter 10: #4

‘Lance, these dreams they’re… changing. They keep coming back, I don’t know what to do, I know I should tell Lotor but something is stopping me. I haven’t been able to sleep for the past three days, I’m trying to hold out for as long as I can, even then, I pass out and they come back. 

I know that’s not very good but I need some way to just… escape… I need to get away. 

Mum can’t know about this either, it’ll only stress her out more.   
I’m trusting you with this, so I beg you not to tell anyone what I say in these videos. I don’t know the outcome if you do but… I’ve got a gut feeling telling me that the outcome won’t be good. 

Like I said before, these dreams aren’t getting any better, I tried increasing my dosage but that only seemed to not only make me drowsy, but also made it worst. I’ve tried to be positive, by telling myself that it gets worse before it gets better… that was three months ago. 

My dreams, aren’t actual dreams, at least they don’t feel like it. I feel consciously awake and aware when it happens, a lucid dream, I can make my own decisions, however what is really nerve racking is that they become some sort of reality. 

I can’t explain it, the sensations; The conscious awareness; This deja vu...what is happening to me? Am I going crazy? Lance, I need answers. 

What the most abrupt thing is? How they’ve changed. It started as small things, like how mum once asked me to grab some milk from the corner store and on my way there, a truck backed into a street light. 

Or how I would dream of my missing school books being placed in random areas then finding them in that exact spot the next day. I thought how it was just a coincidence, I didn’t think much of it. 

Then they changed… they changed to you, Lance. Every single dream was… of you, and like before it started small, a certain mark you got on your chemistry exam. Then they began to change and… Lance… Last night I…

I had another dream. Another one of you. You were alone and someone seemed to be following you, I don’t know their intention but it couldn't have been good. They followed you to a secluded area and when you were alone they- 

I don’t know what they did, the dream ended before I got the chance to find out. From what I had seen, I must warn you to be careful, there are horrible people out there who would find pleasure out of hurting you. 

There are bad, bad people out there, I just hope that you never meet them. 

Keep your eyes open, and trust no one but yourself. Something is coming your way and I can’t prepare you enough for what’s going to happen, and whatever it is, it’s going to be devastating. 

Let’s just hope that next time I dream of you, it isn’t a bad one.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I just wanted all of you to know how much I appreciate that fact that you have taken your time to read this far and that has really helped me stay on board with writing this story. I love every single one of you, thank you so much <3.


	11. Chapter 11: Life of the Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before anyone gets angry, I'm going to warn you that some things may not follow Greek mythology exactly, I made it up myself. This is just a warning in case anyone thought I was getting the facts wrong, I wasn't, just making it up as I go.

My father sat to my left on the corrugated iron roof and sighed in content. When he was around, he always tried his best to make our big family happy and supported financially, which often (often meaning all the time) than not meant that he had to leave for an odd job or two. 

I grabbed his hands, they were a lot bigger than my nine year old ones. I took after him, tall bean-pole stature, however I will always be shorter, I still suffered from my mother’s unfortunate petite figure. 

“Tell me the story of the stars again.” I tugged on his shirt sleeve, making him smile warmly at me. 

“The stars?” He asked. 

“Yeah, the one with the five heroes.” 

“A long time ago…” He began, “when the Earth was nearly formed and its primordials thrived in chaos, and ruled over the northern land with a mighty fist, the mortals were enslaved and killed without reason causing the creation on the rebellion. Humans were the chosen mortals of the south to defeat their superiors, they teamed with the primordials’ kin, the gods, and were set off to war.”

“Who were the gods?” I asked, my eyes in widened curiosity. 

My father chuckled and ruffled my hair endearingly, “There are multiple gods, son, one’s even I have yet to know about. However the main gods of this story, were, Ares, Hephaestus, Athena, Dionysus, Artemis and Apollo.” 

“But dad,” I said, drawing out the ‘a’, “you said six gods, there are only five champions.”

He pointed to the sky, “do you see the constellation? The one right next to Taurus?” I couldn’t see where he was looking, so he guided my hand to it, I gasped in delight. “That is Orion, chosen human of both Artemis and Apollo.” 

“Why would they share a person.” I stared at the constellation, it was beautiful just like the others, however it stood out compared to the rest. 

“One can’t be without the other, day and night, light and dark. They were one but with two different bodies.” He said poetically, he always spoke like that whenever we talked about this story. I thought it was to make it eerie or symbolic, but I still have yet to find out why. 

“Oh,” 

“And, so,” He began. “These five heroes,fought furious battles, and won wars, they were built on their God’s strength, each with their own unique ability. However it is never for each generation of heroes.”

I gasped dramatically. Even though I had heard the story multiple times before, I was still amazed, “I want to be just like them, Daddy.” I gave him a toothy grin. 

My father’s face turned stern and my smile left just as fast as it came. “No, you don’t.” 

“W-why?” 

“Mijo, a hero’s ending is never a good one,” he said solemnly his brows furrowed together. 

He stood up and grabbed my hand, “Now… I think that’s enough storytelling for one night…” 

. . . 

After finding out about Keith’s mental state, I went to speak to his psychologist, who avoided any questions on the matter, refusing to give up any valuable information. Is this the start of something much bigger?

“Lance, mijo, come try on your suit, we have thirty minutes until we have to be there. Stop playing on your phone.” Mama yelled from across the hotel room. 

It was Marco’s wedding day, which sucked, because that meant I had to spend an entire evening with my Abuelita. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the LGBT community. 

“Coming, Mama.” I grabbed out the suit Allura and I had chosen weeks ago. I looked in front of the mirror and sighed, sitting on my bed. 

“Mijo,” my mama’s voice echoed behind me, she stood at the door with a sad look on her face “Don’t look at yourself like that.” 

I open my mouth but she beats me to it. “You are a handsome boy. No matter your skin color, you are beautiful.” She walks and sits on the bed next to me, grabbing my hands.

“In fact, it only makes you stronger, more unique than anyone else in the world, only fools are scared of difference,” her hand ran across my shoulder and down my back, where the largest patch of pale skin showed. “You are my baby, my precious boy… and no skin disease is going to change the way I love you.” 

She grabbed my face and sighed, “Your father would be so proud…” 

I hug her tightly, “Thank you, mama.” 

She smiles warmly at me, “Now, we have twenty minutes until we have to go, I want you running out that door with your suit on in three.” 

. . .

“...and that’s how I found out I had shoulder nipples.” 

The woman at the reception finished. She must’ve been a friend of Cindy’s, I’d never seen her before… although with speeches like the one she just pulled, I’m pretty glad she wasn’t on my side of the family.

Is she for real? Marco’s eyes silently asked me. We both escaped that situation as fast as we could. 

“Oh my, I’m glad we got out of that one,” He said to me once we were far enough away. We both laughed. “So, how has everything been with your report. Mama was so proud of you when she was talking to me on the phone the other day.” 

My chest filled with pride.

“I uh… don’t know anymore…” I couldn’t tell him what was happening. Keith promised me not to tell anyone, and I don’t know what cause me to but… I listened to him. 

“Isn’t it about the missing boy in your school, were you close with him or something.” He asked quietly enough so that no one could over hear us. 

“No, it wasn’t like that… it’s just my teacher who is helping me… told me to change nearly the entire thing, and I just… am I really that bad of a writer? She didn’t like any of the information I had, saying that nobody would find it interesting but…” I sighed. 

“Horrible? Lance, your writing is amazing and I’ve seen it first hand, don’t doubt yourself. Your teacher is just trying to help you, she wants you to succeed just as much as we do. Take her advice and use it.” His smile stretched across his face. 

“Then you’ll be writing like a pro in no time.” I gave him a small smile. If only I told him the truth. I know I’m good at writing, but what happened to Keith is freaking me out. His little messages to me, dreams of the future- or at least some kind of psychic abilities, warnings. It made me wonder, what had Keith gotten himself into? 

“Marco? Oh, look how you have grown,” Mama ran up to my brother and squeezed him, have to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “From a boy into a man, what a wonderful day it is.” 

“Yes indeed.” We all turned to see- 

“Abuelita,” Marco nearly hissed. He wasn’t much of a fan of her lack of filter and after I came out as being bisexual. “What a pleasant surprise, I didn’t expect you to be here after last time.” 

Last time being when there was a screaming match between him, her and Papa. She couldn’t help but make comments on my choice in partners. Let’s just say that she isn’t welcome into the house anytime soon. 

“I wouldn’t miss my grandson’s wedding for the world,” She then turned and flashed me a fake smile.

“Lance, how lovely it is to see you, you’ve grown into a fine young man,” she pinched my cheeks, “Rather a waste, I say.” she then sneered, her hands’ grip around my face tightened and stung. 

I pulled away from her and looked to the ground, “Abuelita.” I greeted, Mama grabbed my arm and scowled at her. 

“Your talk is getting out of hand, Elena.” she said but abuelita spoke over her. 

“I never consented to your relationship with my son,” She sneered, her face scrunched in disgust. “Your fake Hispanic background does not fool me, Rosa. No wonder the boy has those vile patches all over his skin.” 

“You will not speak about my son in that tone, you bitch.” I haven't heard mama raise her voice in a long time; even though it wasn’t the first time that Abuelita had come to ruin a family event. 

One night, Rachel had come into my room and told me to not even call her Abuelita anymore. I laughed, but times like this made me wish I took her advice. 

Abuelita’s face scrunched unattractively. “At least pay attention to your other child, Rosa. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that you were the one who caused Veronica’s accident.”

Mama’s rage was silent. Those who didn’t gasp went quiet as well. Abelita then turned on her heel and left, either satisfied with the damage she had done, or was embarrassed that so many people heard her. Knowing Abelita, it was the first.

. . . 

With a drink in my hand, I sat at one of the back tables at the wedding, trying to be unnoticed by the rest of the crowd. I didn’t want to affect everyone else in the room with my sour mood. 

“Lance,” I heard a voice behind me. One that I haven’t heard in a long time. I turn around to see Veronica, she had changed since I last saw her. Her hair, once smooth and wavy, is coarse and straggly, tangles mixed and caught together. 

Her face was hollowed out, bone stuck out in sharp edges, she looked like a mummified corpse. Worst of all was that she was sitting in a wheelchair, her arms neatly folded in front of her with a small smile.

“Veronica…” I said quietly, “what-how…” 

“When I woke up the doctors told me that I was hit in the back, that he severed my spinal cord. That I’m paralyzed from the waist down.” She interrupted me. I breathed in harshly, my heart beated quickly in my chest, I wasn’t ready. 

“Where have you been, af-after you got out of the hospital.” I said, Veronica looked quickly down at the watch that sat on her bony wrist.

“Rachel, she’s been looking after me-” 

“Why didn’t she tell us-why didn’t you tell us?” I was getting frustrated, she had left us, she broke our family apart.

Before, Abuelita was more tolerable when she was around. Veronica was always her favourite, giving her more presents, giving Veronica her undivided attention, she was so immersed in my sister that she had no time to worry about the rest of us. 

When Veronica left, Abuelita had no one to occupy her time with, she turned to the rest of her family the “undesirable ones” in her opinion. She blamed mama for Veronica’s disappearance, and what tipped the icing off the cake was her homophobic tendencies to lash out when ever I was around.

So, I was a little more than peeved off.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” Veronica tried to reason, but I was already too far gone. 

I scoffed, “worry? Veronica, you crossed that line the moment you left without saying anything.” 

I felt my anger bubble in my chest, rising violently into my throat, urging me on to say the most hurtful words I could think of. To make her feel what I felt all those years ago, make her feel remorseful. 

“I had to pick up the broken pieces you left behind. It’s all your fault, if it wasn’t for your surprise little disappearing trick, you wouldn’t be stuck in a goddamn wheelchair!” I shouted. Everything went silent, that’s when I realized that the music had stopped, no one was dancing anymore. 

I turned to Veronica, her hollow eyes were red and puffy, face glazed with tears. She was shaking, her entire figure trembled and shook. Her breathing was ragged and uneven. 

I stood there in shock, I didn’t realize. Before I could do or say anything else, I was pushed out of the way. Someone had grabbed Veronica and wheeled her away, I didn’t know who. 

As I sat there I felt someone sit beside me, it was Abuelita.

“What a waste of potential” She repeated. Her eyes darkened, lips curved into a sneer.


	12. Chapter 12: Mysterious Strangers and Orange Mustaches (33/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry for the late update. I've been trying to get my entire life in order at this moment with school and a bunch of other stuff going on at home. do not worry I have not given up on this story. WE ARE NEARLY THERE. I am so exciting to write the more interesting part of this story and I hope you are too.  
> I. Appreciate. Every. Single. One. Of. You. Thank you all so much for those who have supported this story it means so much to me. 
> 
> Love Ya'll

Hello Lance,

I need to hold another meeting with you regarding your report. I expect that you followed my advice and were able to get more information on Keith and Shiro’s relations and I look forward to further expanding your report. I hope you have familiarized yourself with the consequences if you have not.

Kind Regards,

Amanda Braggen.

I turned my phone off with a sigh. She had been bugging me about this report since our last meeting, I was getting tired of her constant reminders.

I had finished it, the report was perfect. I double, triple, even quadruple checked that the grammar, sentence, and paragraph structure were flawless. Yet… she was still not satisfied enough with my work because it had the wrong facts?

I used articles from the newspaper as exemplars, using the same facts and questions but she said that my work was not interesting enough to become a public article. How can the style of my article, a lot similar to that of other professional pieces, not be compelling enough?

“Mijo, everyone is waiting for you, come into the water.” Mama called out. My family was spending their time on the beach for the rest of our holiday.

I closed my eyes and listened to the ocean wash in and out. It calmed me to listen to the constant rhythm of waves crashing on the sand. I could hear my nephew and niece splash each other in the background, but that is all they were, background noise.

“Oi,” a shadow shielded my face from the sun. I opened my eyes, Marco was standing above me, his arms crossed over his chest. “Stop moping around and have some fun, you don’t get to spend time with your family as much as you used to.”

“Marco, I’m so-”

“It’s too late now. What’s done is done, there is nothing you can do but move on. Veronica knows what she did was wrong, hell, she would know more than you, she can never walk ever again. She apologized, and I think it’s time you do too.”

After Veronica left, the atmosphere felt awkward. People left early and the wedding hadn’t even gotten through half the night. Cindy was more than upset to say the least.

“I can’t, you know I can’t.” I said to Marco.

He raised an eyebrow, “and why not?”

“Because I’m still angry with her.” I grumbled under my breath.

“You’ve had two years to be upset about her running away. Just be happy that she is back home and not murdered by her bastard of a boyfriend.”

“I will once she realizes that what she did was beyond wrong,” I argued back.

Marco shook his head, sighing in disbelief before walking away, saying something about thick pigheadedness.

“At least come and enjoy the rest of the day with your family,” he called behind him. I sighed before getting off my towel and running into the cold salty water, forgetting just in that moment, the anxiety of family drama and the upcoming meeting with Braggen.

. . .

After an hour of messing around with my family in the ocean, Nadia and Sylvio took it upon themselves to pester me into buy them ice cream.

“Tio Lance, Please!”

“I’ll give you one of my Easter eggs from last year!”

“I’ll give you twenty dollars!”

“I’ll give you a hundred!”

They ran circles around me, tugging on my arms and giving me big puppy eyes. I gave in easily. Sue me, I have a soft spot for children.

“Okay, okay. However, only if you are on your best behavior for the rest of the day. That means no fights, tugging on hair, or stealing toys.”

They both nodded their heads and ran toward the ice cream van. Once getting there I gave them ten dollars to share, “spend it wisely.” They both smiled toothy grins before jumping in line.

I smiled back but it quickly vanished when something black fluttered in the corner of my eye. My mind sprung to the worst case scenario; a creep wanting to kidnap my niece and nephew.

However, when my head turned, my eyes landed on a head of black hair. It looked familiar, the wild, choppy mullet. In fact, it look similar to that of-

“Keith!”

The name escaped from my lips in a shout. Many of the surrounding people frowned or gave me strange looks. My focus,however, was on the raven haired person, ten meters away from me. They seemed to react to the name, dashing away.

In a fit of the moment, I made the empty-headed decision to go after them.

I had to weave and push through crowds that the person I was chasing seemed to effortlessly glide through.

This couldn’t be him, could it? All that effort into finding him, just to end on such an anticlimactic resolution? That didn’t seem likely in this case.

My mind wandered as I chased them down the streets. Maybe Pidge was right. Maybe Keith had left on impulse, in a fit of mind-clouding rage which sent him to a town miles away from home.

But that doesn’t explain the videos.

It doesn’t explain why someone so obviously wanting me to find them. It could be anyone, an enemy perhaps? Or maybe even Keith himself.

I had a whirlwind of questions that needed to be answered.

“H-hey, wait up!”

My outburst seemed to only make them run faster. They were quick, light on their feet, it seemed that this situation was familiar to them, where they’ve had to use flightiness to get them out of sticky situations. They were fast. That was one thing I was sure of. Much faster than me.

I didn’t know my way around, each turn we took down a street made my mind a jumbling mess. I hoped that once I catch them, they’ll be able to take me back where we came.

“Stop!”

My efforts to stop them seemed futile, only encouraging them further. My throat and lungs stung with each dry breath. My calves ached and screamed at me to stop, I haven’t done that much exercise for a long while.

They turn down one street which leads us to an empty alleyway. It had a dead end, the person stopped and seemed to realize that, they looked to the side, I couldn’t catch a glimpse of their face.

I ran after them as they jumped behind one of the bins. When I finally felt that I had got them, I looked behind the bin.

They weren’t there.

They weren’t anywhere.

I did a 360, and… they were nowhere to be found. Not a single trace of their existence, like they vanished into thin air.

“Well, I never!” A voice called from the entrance of the alleyway.

I squinted to get a better look. Their voice seemed familiar but I couldn’t figure out who. Until I saw orange mustache and striped turtleneck.

“Coran?” I yelled back.

“Bless my lucky stars, what a convenience it is to run into someone like yourself. Far away from home, I see.” His wild brows furrowed and wrinkled his forehead as he looked me over, “You look a little worse for wear, my boy. What happened?”

“Uhh… I’ve gotten a little lost.” I said sheepishly. I couldn’t exactly tell him that I was following someone who I thought was a missing kid from my school, but it turned out that the person I was following vanished into thin air.

“You’ve ran into the right person then,” Coran smiled and beckoned me forward. “Let’s get you back home.”

. . .

Coran had called a taxi to pick us both up.

“So tell me, what has brought you to the sunny coast of Malibu?” Coran said as the car started to run.

“It was my brother’s wedding,” I stated shortly. “We were having a day at the beach when I ran into someone and got lost…”

“How unfortunate, and from what I’ve seen, you are also not familiar to the area either.”

“No.”

It was a very stupid mistake of mine to follow someone I didn’t know. For all I know, they weren’t even real.

“You don’t seem too happy about your brother’s wedding either, did something happen?” Coran mused.

“There was...someone at the reception… well two people, I’m not on the best of terms with both.” I seemed to be more open with Coran than most people, probably because of his charming demeanor.

“Ah… a family quarrel,” Coran nodded, he put his hand on my shoulder. “You know what they say, blood is thicker than water. They’re your blood family, the only one you’ll ever get. Forgiving can be hard, but in the end of the day, would you rather forgive and be a family, or forever live in hatred of a mistake that even you could make?”

Coran’s words hit me like a freight train. He was right. I needed to get over my arrogance. I needed to let go years of anger and mourning. As much as I didn’t want to, I needed to forgive Veronica. I was being self-centered, I humiliated her in front of our family.

“Though, I am an old man, my advice maybe outdated,” He said with a smirk. He knew he won me over.

“I guess you are right.”

“Oh I love this place!” Coran suddenly changed the subject.

He pointed to a building, It looked like it had been vacant for years, the letters on the front of the building were falling off but I could just make out the name ‘Astrology and Astrophysics Center’.

“It was open when I was a young boy. Ah, how the stars always intrigued me.” Coran informed.

“My dad used to tell me stories of the stars,” I remembered to the time before my dad was flown from place to place. Where we sat on top of the roof late at night and he would tell me stories. It was the only time alone I got with him, and the only one that wanted to listen to his stories. my family thought it was a bunch of rubbish.

It was the only time alone with him. I had to constantly fight against my other siblings to get any attention from mama or dad. We’d scream and make fights, it was a constant war.

“Care to tell…” Coran urged me.

“One of my favorites was of the constellations and their stories. Of ancient Greek heroes who were chosen by Gods to protect Earth and its people from the Titans. That there were five heroes, each with their own patron

God or goddess who were gifted with supernatural talents.”

“Oh? Tell me more of these ‘heroes’,”

“My favorite was Orion. He was different because he had two patron gods unlike the other four, Artemis and Apollo. It was said that with their help he could change day to night, and was one of the most skilled hunters at that time. However, he died in battle, Artemis was so heartbroken that she lifted his soul into the sky, painting it so that his mark would forever be seen with man and that he would never be forgotten.”

“What a lovely story…” Coran mused, a sparkled glinted and danced on his eye.

The car suddenly stopped and Coran sighed,” I guess our time has been cut short, my boy.” I climbed out of the car and turned to see Coran, who had a smirk on his face, “I would love for you to tell me more of those stories once we are both back in the safety of our homes.”

I smiled and just before I walked back I realized something, “Coran… I never told you were I was-”

The car was gone.

“Going…”

I shook my head and walked back to the beach.

. . .

“Mijo, where have you been!?” Mama ran over, checking me over for any bruises or marks.

“I just got a little lost…” I said calmly, taking her hands away from me, holding them.

“You left Nadia and Sylvio at the ice cream truck, they came back screaming that you had ran off after some stranger, yelling at them. What has gotten into you these past few weeks?”

“I’m sorry mama, I’ll try to be more aware.” She smiled, satisfied that I knew what I did was wrong. She leaned away and walked to the rest of our family.

“And, Mijo, you need to be more careful. A man had your jeans, saying that you left them in the sand.” She passed me a pair of sun faded jeans.

They felt heavy in one of the pockets, I never usually use my pockets either, only to hold my phone but that was currently on me at that moment. I checked the pocket to see a small USB and a note.

/33 - you need to be more careful of your things, you never know when they’ll disappear.

I quickly shoved it back inside the pocket with a sigh. Before I go and watch the video, there was something else I needed to do. Something that I should’ve done the moment I got the chance.

I look around to see Veronica under a tree. Mama was able to find a spot where she was still close to everyone without her wheelchair being bogged in the sand.

“Veronica…”

Her head whipped towards me. A sad look in her eye. Without thinking I rushed over and hugged her. She let out a squeak in surprise.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. You don’t deserve to be like this. I just missed you and-and I was scared, I know that isn’t an excuse for what I did at Marco’s wedding. Please forgive me.”

One of her bony hands rested on my back.

“It is alright, Lance. I would’ve done the same.” Her voice was small and scratchy, as if she hadn’t drunk enough water for years.

“Please come back… I don’t want to lose you again…” her hand rubbed my back and she smiled.

“I will always come back, hermano”


	13. Chapter 13: #5

“Lance, so much has happened since I’ve last spoken to you. 

“A week ago I found out that these- these psychedelic, scary-ass dreams really aren’t- they are not what I first thought they were. 

“I’m - I’m so scared, I finally know what’s happening, but it has just opened a door with twice as many questions to answer. I tried talking to a psychic. She told me that they were visions- visions! Sight into the future! Though she also mentioned about awakening the third eye, but between you and me, I think that’s a load of bullshit. But the visions, however, she was almost spot on. 

“I can see into the future, Lance, I know I said that two seconds ago but… I swear that I’m not joking. I’ve just become paranoid- insane with anxiety the past few days. I- I can’t sleep anymore, just the thought alone -those visions- make me want to be sick. And in the past few days alone, they have gotten worse. 

“I have to get out of here. 

“When I first made these videos was years ago, their only purpose was to help with my crippling loneliness. How ironic that the loner had an imaginary friend. But now I have realized that my imaginary friend was more real than I ever thought. 

“You were real. When I first saw you, I was scared. Someone had to be playing some kind of fucked up prank on me, that they had somehow moved schools and decided to dress as my imaginary friend. But I soon realized it wasn’t a joke, you didn’t know me either.

“Then I felt excited. You were real, completely, utterly made of flesh, skin, bone and all those other bits in between. 

“You looked exactly like I imagined. Thin, gangly framed, short tamed brown hair, tanned skin and fresh blue eyes. Though you are a lot shorter than I imagined. 

“I thought it was just a fluke. There are seven billion people out there, it’s not so unbelievable that you looked familiar. 

“However, those excuses died quickly once you started to appear in my ‘visions’. It’s almost as if my eyes have opened for the first time. 

“There is something beyond our understanding, something transcendent. My dreams and series of coincidences. A much stronger force is at work. I just need to find out why. 

“Call me insane… but there has to be something more. 

“I’ve had to… let people go, Isolate myself so that no one interferes. This is my own problem, I’m going to be the one to fix it. 

“This is why I’m asking for your help.

“I’m going away for a while. I need to find answers, I’ve already got a few places in mind, though I don’t know when I’ll be back. But when I am, find me. 

“It’s not safe here anymore, too many know that I’m aware, they’re searching. You are the only one I can trust, because you understand the position I’m in. Things have been weird, confusing and frustrating for you too. 

“When I come back, I’ll tell you everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys, we have lift off (finally). This is the last video so start getting excited!


	14. Chapter 14: Friendship Never Ends

The cursor blinked at me blankly. I stared dumbly back. 

‘It’s mocking me again,’ I thought.

“What do you want me to write?” I said aloud. 

It blinked again. 

I was suffering from a bad case of writer's block. Keith’s latest video was… confusing at most. Something was obviously going on inside his head, that was my theory, it was already confirmed but it went a little deeper. That he was very, very sick… and a little stalkerish. Shivers wracked through my body at the thought of him following me home. 

Something’s couldn’t be answered. Like how he somehow was able to predict the future in some cases. Aside from that, everything was normal. He could’ve had diagnosed schizophrenia, and that the future seeing was all just another coincidence. 

‘That seems like one coincidences too many.’

The library was quiet today, not that it never was, however, most of the time it had a few stragglers or stressed, overwhelmed seniors having hushed conversations in the corners. Most people chose to sit in the cafeteria (mostly because there was food), it was rowdy and often the prime area for gang fights. 

In other words: definitely not my cup of tea. 

Usually I sat with Allura for the first lunch, the break was shorter, only twenty five minutes long before the next period of class. Even then, we both sat outside at the front of the school underneath the cherry blossom tree. Once second lunch came around however, I sat by myself in the library, often catching up on some desperately needed study that I couldn’t do at home. Allura often sat with Shiro and the other cheerleaders and the football team. 

Obnoxiously loud laughter reverted in the library, breaking through the shield of silence I had surrounded myself in, my body stiffened. 

“And now-” they wheezed, “and now I can’t ever look her in the face again.” 

Rolo, one of the offensive linemen in the school’s football team. Tall, about 6’4, a wall of pure muscle, no brain whatsoever. His hair was dyed white, the ends turning yellow from an amateur hairdresser. He’d been training recently to gain a scholarship in football, but I had my doubts. Rolo was… a bad influence, Mama would say. He had many pressed charges against him for underage drinking, public vandalism and many others. In other words, he was very unlikely to get that scholarship if he didn’t clear his name. 

Though no matter how hard he could try, Rolo will never match up to Shiro’s discipline. 

I tugged at the sleeves of my shirt nervously as their heavy footsteps closed in. 

“Yo, Lance, what a surprise it is to see you.” Rolo said loudly, leaning on one of the bookshelves, causing some of the books to fall to the ground, he ignored them. His friends stood silently around me, looking at me with intent. 

“The feeling is mutual” I said blandly then turned to my laptop, trying desperately to ignore them so that they would become bored of me and leave.

Ignore him. Ignore him. 

“You know,” Rolo smirked as he pushed off the bookshelf and stalked towards me. “I just realized that… we never talk. You’re always here then there, always off doing something. You never have time to just… stop.” 

He lunges forward and grabs my laptop. 

“Hey! What are you-” His friends grab my arms, stopping me from moving. Both smelled strongly of B.O, that choked and clogged up my throat. 

“He’s just making a few adjustments, that’s all.” One of them sneered in my ear, his wet breath sticking to my skin, making me cringe. His teeth were crooked, the front two overlapping each other. 

Once Rolo seemed happy with his work, he stood back up and dusted his hands together in accomplishment. “I’ve just helped you, Lance. You need to stop worrying.” 

He turned my computer to face me. The entire document was deleted, he completely erased the history of it on my computer. 

That document, it was my work that would help me get into college. It held important information, everything about the situation on Keith. I didn't have the time to upload it to a USB so the file was completely gone. What was I going to do? My next meeting with Mrs. Braggen was in a few short days. 

“You understand why I did this, don’t you?” Rolo said, his eyes gleaming, “You can’t get into a college, no matter how hard you try. You’re just too much of a… freak.” 

My heart dropped and settled in the pit of my stomach. Icy blood ran through my veins. I was scared. 

“Blacks like you don’t deserve to be at this school, try to achieve something that you’re good at doing… like, I don’t know, cleaning toilets,” his words stung and cut at my heart. “Actually, tell that to your bitch friend, Allura, as well. She must be a good fuck if she’s got Shiro’s attention.”

Tears pooled in my eyes and blurred my vision as Rolo’s friends laughed in hysterics, kneeling over and clutching their stomachs, letting go of my arms. 

I quickly snatched up my text books and snapped my computer shut with my new found freedom. I kicked myself from the table and began walking towards the exit. My breath became ragged in short little pants, body quaking. I was scared,I didn’t understand how to act towards that and that in itself was fucking terrifying. 

 

Out. Out. Out. Get out!

I gulped small breaths of air and curled in on myself as I walked through the school. It was getting too loud. 

Loud. Too loud. 

Everything seemed to close in on me, the walls were closer, people were to close. Everything was too close!   
People touched me asking me what was wrong, but I couldn't hear their words. 

Lance. 

Get off me, get off me, get off me, get off me. 

“Lance.” 

My eyes opened, I didn’t realize I had closed them. I was curled up in the corner of an empty classroom. Allura, face filled with concern, was crouched in front of me, “C’mon buddy, work with me here.” 

I uncurled myself from the corner and stood up to sit on one of the desks, Allura helped me, grabbing my arm and pulling me up, “There you go, slowly. We don’t want you hurting yourself.” 

We sat in silence and waited until my breath evened out to speak. 

“What happened?” Allura asked

It took a few moments before I could speak.“Rolo,” was all I said, closing my eyes and nervously carding my hand through my hair.

“And what did that condescending prick do?” She asked quietly, looking out the class windows for anyone that might’ve decided to eavesdrop. 

I told her shakily what he said, how he deleted my report, she covered her mouth and gasped. I didn’t tell her about what he said about Shiro. 

“God, what a dick.” Her brows furrowed and frowned, a sour look on her face. “He really needs to be taken off that high horse of his. We should tell the director of students.” 

“No,” I said quickly, latching myself to her arm.   
“No?” She gave me a bewildered look. “Why not? We can stop him, kick him off the football team, he deserves it after what he did.” 

“But it won’t stop him,” I argued. I didn’t want to cause any more drama. “He’ll be the same, he won’t stop, he’ll never learn.” 

“You can’t just do nothing.” Allura threw he hands into the air, “haven’t you’ve heard of justice. If you don’t stop, he’ll keep on walking all over you, what are you going to do then? I don’t want to have to find you curled up in the corner of an empty class room again because you refused to speak up and do something.” 

She took a deep breath before continuing more quietly, “Lance, his behavior is abusive, he can’t keep doing this. What if next time it escalates even more? What if it was me?” 

We sat in silence. I didn't want to cause more trouble, I was worried enough that I couldn’t hand in my report to Mrs Braggen, she was expecting a fully completed article in the next three days, how was I supposed to write a 2000 word report in three days with most of the information lost or forgotten? 

“I understand…” I said quietly. 

A small smile made itself known on Allura’s face, her hand drifting to my shoulder, “On a better note, I have more exciting news.”

“I was wondering if you… wanted to go to New York with me? The museum is paying for accommodation and the flights there, and I can take a plus one… So?” She raised an eyebrow in question. 

“Yes, sure, that's... really exciting, I’m happy for you.”

“That’s great because I had no one else to go with and… I couldn’t exactly take Shiro because… he’s my boyfriend… and we would be alone… and you know how my dad is.” Allura and I cringed at the idea of Alfor and his choice of words if Allura even attempted to try and convince him to take Shiro. 

I have heard my fair share of stories about Alfor, it was quite the shock he would let her take me.

“Also,” Allura said, biting her bottom lip. “It’s in a week, I know it’s such a short notice as we both… haven’t exactly… seen each other for awhile.” Her voice drifted as she spoke, “Why is that? Has something happened? Did I do something to make you angry?” 

“No… I’ve just been very busy with mama and the report… which is now gone, and I think I’ll be doing three all-nighters to finish.” I sighed.

I knew mama wasn’t going to be too happy when I tell her about it being last minute, she often stressed about accommodation (as she had five kids to look after) and often going on day trips to the mall. Even though we were financially on the lower side of the spectrum and could hardly afford luxuries, Mama would always find a solution to bargain her way through, with everyone eventually ending up with an entire wardrobes worth of new clothes. It became an unspoken tradition after the third time in a row. 

Allura bit her cheek in thought and said, “Yeah, I remember you saying something about that, is she okay?” 

“She’ll be fine,” I said, shrugging. “I haven’t been able to tell you, but Veronica was found a couple of weeks ago.” 

“Oh, really!?” Allura’s jumped from where she was sitting on one of the desks. “That’s exciting! How is she? What happened? Is she okay?”

“Uh… that’s the problem. Veronica was… she was hurt badly. That’s how she was found. She… had an abusive boyfriend and now… she’s stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.” 

Allura stilled in her place, her eyes widened and she took a shaky breath, “Veronica-” 

“Lance!” A voice yelled from outside, followed by a series of thundering footsteps. 

I recognized the voice and turned to see Pidge running towards me at breakneck speed, which can I say, is an achievement on its own, that someone with Pidge’s short stature could carry themselves at such a pace. 

She stopped, hands on her knees as she took a deep, labored gasp of breath, “Shirojusttextedme” she said quickly before going into a coughing fit. 

Topic of before being forgotten I raised my hand and said “ slower, Please.” 

Pidge reached for something in her pocket and pulled out an asthma puffer, inhaling the steroids before saying again, “Shiro just texted me.” 

“Yes,” I said slowly, trying to catch on to what she was saying. “Shiro texts a lot of people.”

“Yes,” Pidge said, rolling her eyes, “ I know that, but something happened this time.” She gave me a look, trying to tell me that it might have something to do with Keith. She forced her hand into her pocket once again, pulling of scraps of paper and a few loose coins before finally handing out her phone. She scrolled through the contacts.” 

 

“What happened to Shiro?” Allura asked curiously. I almost forgot that she was behind me. “He was just with me at the start of lunch, he couldn’t have gotten into too much trouble while I was gone.” 

“Gosh I really am out of shape.” Pidge said as she tries to control her breathing, clearly ignoring her. 

Allura did not look impressed, “Pidge.” She pressed on, her hands on her hips as she walked towards her . “I’m not going to ask you again, what happened to Takashi?” 

“I don’t know,” Pidge said honestly. “He was going on about seeing some random outside the school, and how they were just walking around and being all sketchy.”

“What?” Allura and I say simultaneously. 

“Who was it?” I asked. 

Pidge shrugged, we both knew that this person could be a link in to whoever is sending the videos. The only thing holding us back from talking was that Allura was in the room. “He didn’t say, just that he was going to check it out.” 

“What!?” Allura said loudly. She grabbed her phone and started texting him, “why would he do that? Doesn’t he know that’s dangerous, he could get hurt.” 

“It’s Shiro, if anybody’s going to be scared it’s got to be the guy when Shiro has a go at him,” Pidge said. “I also think he didn’t do it for no reason.” 

Allura faltered and began to put her phone away, “I guess you’re right but if we don’t see him during class…” 

“Allura, we don’t share any classes with him, but if it does come to that, then we will go look for him.” 

“Or call the Police, they seem like a better option.” 

“Of course,” Pidge and I made eye contact. We both knew that wouldn’t happen if it came to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys! I'm really, really , realllllllly sorry about the late update. I've been drowning in exams and other upcoming things. Thank you guys so much for being here and supporting this story, I really appreciate it! Also I've been editing chapter 8 and have rewritten it (TWICE) that's also another reason why this came out a little late (not much has changed, just made it flow together a bit nicer) and also the fact that the original for chapter 14 was absolute garbage and had to go entirely off what I had planned.   
> Thanks so much guys, Love Y'all <3.


	15. Chapter 15: Pretty Stranger

Mud: thick and wet, sucked at his feet, trying to pull him under. It was heavy and slowed Keith down, the early morning chill leaving a thin layer of frost that sat hesitantly on any uncovered surface it could find, trapping any moisture underneath.

Keith panted as he stumbled through the upturned earth, white tendrils of breath weaved through the air surrounding them as they trekked through the war zone. The war, it had taken its toll on the terrain,catapults and other artillery had caused trench-like holes to be littered throughout the area. The holes turned the earth to mud, it was unstable to walk through. Most of Keith's men had sprained an ankle or popped a knee cap.

War was unforgiving, and destroyed anything untameable or showed signs of resistance.

Keith had joined the military for that reason. He wanted to keep that resistance alive, give hope to the hopeless and change the cycle of war and poverty.

However, lately, the land had gone into a depression. The days were short and the air was turning cold and frigid, even though it was the middle of summer. The constant burning and layering of powerful gases clouded the atmosphere with toxic fumes and ash that blocked the once bright skies.

Scorching hot fertile soil, now littered with ice and tainted with dangerous chemicals, could not sustain crops for the farmers. The rich rationed while the poor died of starvation. Everyone was becoming desperate for the war to end.

Keith had his theories, that the gods were losing the battle. He feared that the end was closer than they thought and that when it begins, the gates of hell will raze cities to the ground.

"Commander!" A voice from behind, Keith grunted in acknowledgement.

A stout man toddled towards him, covered in a thick bear pelt to give him little protection in case of an ambush and to keep out the biting cold. "Scouts have reported that the enemy front lines have retreated!"

The men who overheard began murmuring to each other.

"Ran with their tails between their legs." One said, he laid most of his weight in another, his left foot swollen to the size of his head, purple and pulsing, Keith was surprised no one had amputated it before.

"Scared 'em off with tha' big sword of yours, eh Bron?" His friend joked back.

Keith let them jest for a while longer before he held his hand up for silence, "archers and any able bodied men stay and keep watch in case of an attack. While the rest of us will stop at the nearest village and regroup. Once you have settled back I will return to help keep and look out."

The men leaving cheered and clinked arm braces in celebration, they talked in whispers on the chance of resting.

Keith, However couldn't help but feel the cold fingers of anxiousness grip at his throat and claw through his mind.

"To those who are staying, be safe, and if the enemy does come, fight. This is war and we will not stop fighting until every single one of us is dead!" The rest yelled and raised their arms, hands locked in a tight fist, a sign of respect.

. . .

It took them three days before reaching a small seas-side village called Guildshall. They were all exhausted and fortunate enough that the people of the village recognized them and welcomed them with celebration. The next day, Keith will have to talk to the duke and duchess of the town to discuss the placement of his sick and injured soldiers.

"A toast to our wonderful, bastard of a man,Commander Kogane!" The rest of the troops raised their cups of mead and yelled in agreement.

All of them, drunk off their asses, swung on their seats and joined in on the songs made by an ex apprentice of the palace bard, turned soldier.

Keith did not play a part of their laid-back behavior, his second cup of mead, untouched in front of him as he tapped the side of his mug to the rhythm of the song, It was upbeat melody about triumph and love, something Keith would've enjoyed if he was still a child and the rage of war hadn't destroyed his innocence. He only hoped in served as a good push of motivation for his men.

A sliver of doubt had settled on his shoulders yet again, he did not understand why. The enemy had withdrawn, they were sitting in a cheap inn and they were all still alive (most were, he still couldn't stop the inevitable).

"Commander," said Travis, one of the forty men in Keith's troop who still held the same high spirit as he did when they started this battle months ago. He was older by three years, and had once overlooked Keith for his 'younger' and 'more naive' mind. Though, that ended when Keith proved himself by saving Travis from an incident with an ice wyvern, saving his life, which he now thought he owed Keith his life and loyalty.

"You've been sitting there for the past two hours. We all know how you have a stick up your ass but let off some steam, find yourself a woman." He pointed to the women who had thrown themselves onto the laps of every man in the bar, everyone except Keith.

Even Travis had a petite girl hanging off his dark arm. She couldn't have been any older than seventeen. It disgust Keith that someone would have to go so low as to sell their body. It made him sad.

"I've got better things to do than waste my time on such pointless needs." Keith said, his eyes judging the men who tossed coins to the women. Their eyes filled with greed as they looked them up.

"Will you ever?" Travis asked more softly, his eyes trained on him.

"When the war ends, maybe. It's most likely that I'll stay in the military." Keith said before taking a swing of his mead. He cringed internally instantly, he never liked the foul aftertaste that lasted and stung his tongue.

"Shirogane really has turned you into a lap dog, hasn't he?" Travis accused, a small smile placed on his lips.

"I am simply being responsible," Keith argued, not quite catching onto the joke. "By late morning those men will be waking up with a hangover and mostly likely carrying new diseases."

Travis sighed and rubbed his grimy free hand across his face, "I swear by the gods, Commander, that if you ever find yourself a woman I will gladly eat my boot." Others around them must've heard as they laughed and pounded their hands on the table in amusement.

Keith laughed as well, not because of the others, but he knew that it was never a possibility. Countless amounts of women had begged for him, fathers asking him to marry their daughters (though this was just for his high status) but never once did he have a blink of interest for them.

Shiro had even tried, one to many times. Afterwards they decided to wait until the time comes.

Although there was one person who had caught his interests.

Keith saw them as he entered the village, carrying a basket of herbs towards a nearby shop. A cloak was wrapped around them securely, it was ragged and old, suggesting that it was worn from use.

A sudden gust of wind blew through the town and pushed harshly against them, making the hood fall, revealing their face. Keith let out a harsh intake of breath when he saw pale blue eyes staring at him. They contrasted against his (definitely not a girl, good try Travis) brown skin, it almost seemed they were glowing.

His eyes seemed to stare through Keith. This boy's eyes reminded him of years before the war, they held a childhood innocence that Keith carved for.

Transfixed, Keith began to walk towards him, which unfortunately spooked the boy, causing his blue eyes to widen, he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, cheeks flushed as he scurried in to the shop, slamming the door behind him.

Once he came back to himself, Keith realized that he had wandered from the others. Travis had bumped his shoulders and gave him a questioning look but Keith quickly shrugged him off. The boy falling from his mind.

Thinking back on it now, Keith wanted to see him again. There was something different about that boy in the cloak, he almost seemed out of place in the middle of a busy street. Keith almost mistaken the feeling as familiarity, but never before had he seen that boy before, and brushed it off as exhaustion.

Without thinking, Keith gulped the rest of his mead and pushed off his chair and into the crowd. Women tried to grab his attention, brushing their hands over his chest and whispered soft words into his ear.

They had heard many stories of the Commander from the other soldiers. That he had been asked by the King himself to become his daughter's personal guard. Though, as always, Keith's humbleness and hunger for action drove him to politely decline.

To them, one night with Kieth was worth over a thousand nights with any of the other soldiers.

Keith was not interested in their silent bribes and was immune to the toxic seductive words and hypnotizing voices. Once he was able to march his way through the group he was able to escape the inn and the musky smell of alcohol.

Deciding to go down the main road towards the town, he took a sharp left. Keith wanted a breather, to clear his head. The sounds of the night calmed him along with the salty scent of the sea close by.

There was no beach at Guildshall, instead it was a cliff-side village. Houses just position on the edge of the cliff, including the duke's manor. Though, in the space were there wasn't any building was where they built fences to protect people from falling.

When he was halfway to the town, Keith saw a figure flash in the corner of his eye in the shadows. His thoughts were slightly distorted from the mead, making his mind warm and fuzzy. Tipsy and ignorant, Keith pushed the thought out of his mind as a rabbit or small dog and continued walking.

That was until it happened again, and again... and again.

Finally, Keith got sick of the thing following him as he reached for his sword but soon registered that he left it back at the inn, Keith had told himself before that there was no need for it, that they were staying at a peaceful village and that there would be no use for it.

Growling under his breath, Keith changed his stance, widening his footing and crouched low. Muscles rigid and taut, Keith was getting ready to pounce.

Once he saw the shadows shift as something moved through them. He jumped and pushed them to the ground, they fell with a squeal and desperately tried to escape his grip. Keith however was not going to let them go without a fight, pushing his weight onto them causing them to cry out and stop.

Keith was shocked when he saw their face. Blue eyes pierced into violet, it was the boy from before. His chest rose and fell in quick breaths, long lashes fluttering and flustered.

"Why are you following me?" Keith slurred slightly, the boy began to choke and splutter on his alcohol breath.

"I'm sorry! I never meant to-" he began saying quickly and out of breath. He began to wriggle more under Keith.

"I said, why are you following me? Are you a spy?" Keith's knee pressed more firmly on the boy's thigh, causing him to cry out.

"No! No- I- I was just curious, I saw you before in town! We never have anyone come by now because of the war. I just wanted to take a closer look! I'm sorry if I've offended you or have invaded your privacy!" His words were breathless as he began to panic and tremble under Keith's grip.

Assessing quickly over the boy's words, Keith finally decided to give him one more look before helping him back up. The boy sighed in relief, a hand coming to rest on his chest to calm his fluttering heart.

"Don't try to sneak up on me again, or the other soldiers, they may not be as willing to let you go. Months of war can do that to a man." The boy flushed and tucked a curly strand of hair behind his ear, 'a nervous habit' Keith guessed.

He felt a pang of guilt when he saw the scratches on his face from knocking him down. He raised his hand to touch his face before realizing what he was doing and abruptly stopped and pulled away, shocking even himself. Never once did he ever have to urge to touch another on the face. It scared him how quickly he was opening up to a stranger.

The boy coughed awkwardly and looked away bashfully before offering his hand with a small smile. "It's nice to be...er... of acquaintance with you Commander Kogane, and what an honor it is to have you at our small town."

Keith huffed by shook hands with him anyway, "What are you doing out here at such a time." Keith asked, it had to be almost midnight by now, he couldn't think of any logical reason at being out at such a time, without any protection.

"That's none of your business," The boy snapped sharply before his eyes widened a fraction and said more softly, "Mother asked that I help her gather food before the sun comes and then I saw you walking and..." he looked away shamefully and bit his bottom lip

"Why at such a time and with nothing to protect you?" Keith asked, this boy was very strange.

"They only come out during the night,and I'm more than capable of doing this, I've been doing it for years." The boy answered simply, not in anyway insulted by Keith's remark. He knew how dangerous it was, even his father became weary from time to time.

"And why are you out at this time, Commander?" The boy smirked, "I dare say that the war does not let you sleep during battles?"

"No, it does not," Keith sighed and looked to the way he came. "I had to... take leave from the inn for a few hours, it is quite... active at the moment..."

The boy frowned with disgust, "I guess that can be quite... distracting when you're trying to sleep."

"I also have to keep an eye on my men, in case they get into any trouble." Keith chuckled to himself, "They are a good group of men, it hurts to see them go..."

The boy smiled before looking up at the sky and sighing, "I have to go back to the shop, it's becoming early morning, it begins to get... active. It safest it we go back together and it'll be more... quiet."

Keith knew better than to accept from a stranger but he couldn't stop him from saying, "yes, I think that would be the best... for the both of us."

The boy smiled and began walking the path into town.

"What is your name, I never caught it." Keith remembered.

"Lance, my name is Lance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! 
> 
> I'm sorry that haven't been able to update, I was away for a week, but I promise, I will try and be on time now. 
> 
> Love y'all <3


	16. Chapter 16: the Marks We Leave

Takashi Shirogane, aged 18, has gone missing over the past two days. No clues have been able to indicate the cause of his appearance, but security footage from Westfield High shows that he had left the school premises in a hurry. Police have suggested that this could be linked to the disappearance of Shirogane’s brother, Keith Kogane. Is this the devastating story of a grief stricken boy, gone missing after looking for his lost brother… or is this the start of something much bigger? 

Shiro was gone. Missing. Lost. 

It couldn’t have been true. Shiro was… Shiro. He didn’t go missing. But he was, and the craziest thing? A part of me wasn’t surprised. 

Turning off the TV, I worried my bottom lip. Two brothers missing, there had to be...something connecting this together. It was obviously targeted and it all led to the person who Shiro saw hanging around the school moments before he went missing. 

Though, is this the same person who sent me the videos, and if so, are they singling me out? Isolating me by kidnapping everyone around me? What if Pidge or even Allura decide to go looking for Shiro, only to end up in the same situation as him. ‘Not knowing the truth is the worst torture one can go through’ a quote I found browsing through the internet, came to my mind. And dare I say that it seems like that? 

My phone buzzed and vibrated in the pocket of my jeans. It was Pidge. 

Pidge- Did you hear about Shiro?  
Pidge- We’re going to see Krolia, just to check up on her, you know? And I was wondering if you wanted to come with us.   
It only took her five minutes after my reply, for her to knock at my door. I yelled to Mama that I was going out with friends. To which she replied with, “just get home soon, I’m making Vaca Frita for dinner!”

Outside I noticed there were two of Pidge. One who I knew was Pidge by her short stature, and another, tall enough to tower over me and more boyish looking. 

“Lance,” girl Pidge said, walking towards me and pointing to her taller twin. “I would like for you to meet my brother, Matt. He just came back from College after hearing everything that’s happened with Shiro…” She quickly moved her gaze to the ground, her words became softer. 

The now named Matt smiled and waved awkwardly, “Hey, it’s good to know that Pidge has made more friends other than Keith.” He chuckled as Pidge stood on his foot harshly in return. 

“So… you were friends with Shiro, I think he mentioned you once but… it wasn’t in the best of terms…” I asked once we entered the car. Pidge decided to sit with me in the back, quickly buckling herself in. 

I remembered the first time I went to Krolia’s house (and Shiro’s, but I obviously wasn’t aware of that at the time). He had mentioned Matt and how he ‘had done enough as it is’. I was curious, what had he done to make Shiro hate him? Shiro didn’t hate anyone, he had a heart of gold, Matt must’ve messed up royally to be on his bad side. 

“He talked about that did he?” Matt caught on to my silent question, his eyes never tore their gaze from the road as we traveled down the highway. “Guess it was kind of a shitty thing to do…” 

“Shitty is an understatement, my dear brother. Fucked up however? Much more suitable.” Pidge snorted from beside me, “You told his brother that he was a selfish prick, and then he went and fucked off. Twice in fact.” 

“You were the reason Keith ran away the first time?” I asked, sitting on the edge of my seat, leaning closer towards him. 

“Semi, and trust me. I’m not proud of it, I lost two good friends that day. All because I couldn’t shut my big mouth.” Matt sighed sadly, “I was… annoyed that he kept pushing back the inevitable… and the thing was if he had told her sooner, things could’ve been prevented and… my choice of words weren’t exactly… the correct ones to use.” 

“You yelled at him and called him a coward.” Pidge summed up with a deadpan look. 

. . . 

Keith paced in his room, his head in his hands. “I- I don’t-” his weak voice failed to form the words he needed to speak. His fingers weaved through his hair and tugged violently enough to pull out chunks of hair. His breathing became more ragged as he pondered. 

“I… didn’t mean to…” He hated how his voice sounded so weak. He hated how they sat in silence around him. He wanted them to scream, shout, anything, any noise would be better than the all consuming quiet that ate him from the inside out. 

“Keith…” Shiro had finally said, minutes after. “I understand that you didn’t mean to but…” he faltered as his hand rested on Keith’s shoulder. The unsaid words hung in the air, ‘you need to own up to your mistakes’. 

Shiro had always been the better brother out of the two. It had been like that since they were younger. Higher grades, while Keith was barely scraping a C-. Keith was constantly reminded by teachers and others of his brother’s successes. That had made him resentful, Shiro was casting a constant shadow over his life, always reminding him that he wasn’t enough. 

Now that Shiro was trying to be the better person, made Keith’s boiling rage of resentfulness take an all-time high. Slapping his hand away, Keith glared at him “Stop doing that.” 

A bewildered look crossed over Shiro’s face, his hand slowly retracted back, “what do you mean?” 

“You know what I mean…”

“No. I don’t.” 

“Being the hero!” Keith said, exasperated, throwing his hands in the air and pointing to him. “Stop trying to fix my problems for me.” 

“I’m tired of you trying to fix me, okay!?” His voice raised, his body rigid and quivering with intensity, “I’m tired of mum trying to fix me, I’m sick of everyone trying to fix me. There is nothing wrong with me, There is nothing you can do about it!” 

“Keith you need help…” Shiro tried

“No, he doesn’t Shiro.” Matt had finally said. He had been quiet since he entered the house. “He needs to figure this out himself… if things were different-” 

“But things aren’t different!” Keith cried, his voice wavered with thick coats of emotion and broke. “I pushed her down the fucking stairs! She’s in the hospital! My mum’s in the hospital for God’s sake!” He put his head in his hands and breathed in a harsh shaky breath, he whimpered as he breathed out, as his heart cracked and chipped away. 

Intense waves of guilt flushed through him, pulling him in and out of a beginning panic attack. 

“Yes, and all because you were too much of a coward to tell her. Getting in an angry fit instead of telling her like a normal damn person. No, instead you had to shove her away, only for her to end up with internal bleeding at the bottom of the stairs!” Matt snapped. 

“I was scared…” Keith said softly. 

“Bullshit, all you were thinking about was yourself.” 

Keith squeezed his eyes shut as hard as possible, as his eyes began to swim. “I… I’m going to go out for a bit… I need to think.” 

He ripped open the door and walked swiftly to the front door, not without hearing Shiro call out to him. 

. . . 

Krolia’s house was a lot darker than I remembered, and not because there were no lights on either. The entire atmosphere surrounding the house felt sick. Very, very sick. Tired too. 

A feeling of dread soon came over me as I made my way to the back door. Something was wrong.

Krolia opened the door with a tired smile, Pidge and Matt beside me went completely still. Her cheeks were sunken and her eyes had a hollow look, she waved a bony hand to let us in. 

“Matt how long has it been? I haven’t seen you for quite some time.” she ushered us in and closed the door behind us. Kosmo wasn’t there to greet us this time. In fact I didn’t hear him at all. 

“Would you like some tea? I’m not sure how much I have left but I’m sure there is enough.” Krolia offered. 

We all declined and a disappointed looked darkened Krolia’s face like a shadow as she moved towards the kettle. “Do you know when Shiro’s coming back? It’s been quite a while and I’m having to keep remaking his tea for him…” 

That’s when I noticed the lines of tea mugs on the counter. Krolia had been remaking tea for the past two nights, waiting for him. It seemed that she had finally hit a wall, and was now in the middle of having a breakdown. 

“I think that’s enough tea for the moment…” Matt said as he gently pried her trembling hand from the kettle. “You need some rest, why don’t you take a nap for a few hours, that sounds like a good-” 

Krolia ripped her hand from his, hugging it tightly to her chest with a glare. “Where is my son?” She asked, deathly quiet. “He said he’d be here for dinner… where is he? Are you hiding him!? Where is he!? WHERE IS MY BOY!?”

Her trembling worsens and she struggled to keep herself upright. 

“I WANT MY BABY, WHERE IS HE!?” She fell to the ground in exhaustion and began to cry.   
“I just want them back…” Krolia’s voice became small. “How could you be so cruel…” Her eyes were clouded and words were somewhere else, they were not directed at Matt, Pidge or me. They were at someone else. 

Matt soon picked her up, carrying Krolia to her bedroom. He looked spooked once he came back. “I’ve never-” he licked his lips and swallowed thickly. “I’ve never seen her like that… how bad were things when I was away. How was everyone?”

Pidge didn’t offer anything to the conversation, so I spoke for her. “Things weren’t like this before, sure she was a bit weird when I first met her a week or two ago.” 

Pidge still hadn’t spoken at all, I hoped she was okay. 

Matt ran a hand across his face and sighed, “I need to tell mum and dad about this... They’ll be able to get Krolia the help she needs. She can’t be by herself at the moment, so I have to stay here, if you two want to go back home?” 

He walks away, and begins talking on the phone in hushed whispers, trying not to wake up Krolia, however, by the look of things, I didn’t think she would be waking up anytime soon.

“Everything okay?” I asked Pidge who still had yet to say a single word. 

She gave a shaky sigh, “can we go for a walk before we go? I need some fresh air.” 

It was chilly once we got outside. The colder months were just around the corner, but it shouldn't be this cold, checking my phone, it said the temperature was 18 degrees. 

Pidge walked a few meters ahead, completely silent. 

“Jeez, it’s fucking cold. “ I said, trying to make conversation. My teeth were chattering as I tried to wrap myself further in my thin sweater.

Not to my surprise, Pidge didn’t say anything. I could tell that the weather was getting to her as well as she shivered and trembled at each contact of a short breeze. 

“Hey, Pidge!” I said, jogging up to her. 

“We need to get inside the car, I understand that you must be… shocked, scared maybe, but we’re going to get sick if we stay out here too long.” 

“Then go back.” She said quietly

“What?” 

“I’m not forcing you to stay here, so go back to the car, don;t worry I won’t be too long…” She turned back around to continue walking, sighing a puff of white breath. 

She looked so miserable. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked

“Too much on my mind to even begin with,” Pidge said with a sad laugh. “I just- I wanted to find Keith, then suddenly I have this stranger who kidnapped one of my friends-and their mum is-she’s-” Pidge rubbed her eyes before looking up to the sky and took a deep breath. 

“I wish I had told Shiro not to go, what do you think would’ve happened then?” She asked.   
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully.

“I want things to begin how they used to. Before I met you. Before-before Keith went missing,” Pidge’s bottom lip quivered. “I keep seeing him, everywhere. In the park, in school, even in you. He keeps coming back, I want this to stop.” a tear slid and fell from her chin. 

I pulled her into a hug as Pidge began to sob into my shoulder, softly clutching onto my sweater. “We’re not going to find him, are we? He’s just always going to be there, he won’t leave us alone.”

“No, we will. We’ll find them both.” I said and hugged her tighter. 

“And-and if we don’t?” 

“Then we will make sure someone else will.” 

Pidge whimpering became louder. She was always so confident with herself and IQ much larger than the rest of our cohort that I forgot how young she was, only fifteen and losing a best friend. She was still a child. 

‘Thank you, Lance…” Pidge sniffed, her eyes becoming closed with how puffy they were when she gave me a sad smile. “Thank you for helping me with… all this,” she gestured to herself. “Even though we haven’t found him, without your help, I- well I’d still be looking around in his room for some king of sign.” 

I wanted to tell her that I hadn’t done anything to help her, that I had in fact not brought either of us any closer to finding him, we were just as far as we were before. 

But instead I chose to smile, “we’ve helped each other.”

Her smile turned brighter, a weight that was sitting on her shoulders for the past year had finally lifted.


End file.
